A Moment in Time
by Dreaming Lotus
Summary: Memorable snippets in time. My collection of drabbles and one/two/etc shots. Rating is subject to change. Various anime/manga/movie/game/x-overs featured including Original Character insertions. Not all features are Romance-based.
1. KuraKag: The Witch's Son

The Witch's Son

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho that appear in this fic. Also, I do not own the story of 'The Witch's Son.' I'm just borrowing them to write this fi

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A/N: I read this story when I first came to America and loved it. Just the other day, I was reading 'Unforgettable' by Kura-kun's-lovr on and I immediately thought of this short story written by Vivian Vande Velde. Now, I'm using this story to write a one-shot crossover fic of Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho. I hope everyone reads it and enjoys it. Kurama/Kagome implied.

"Talking" _Thinking_

1776 - Summerfield, New York

When Shiori Minamino brought her son, Kurama, back from the dead for the first time, he looked all fragile and wispy, like morning mist on the village commons.

She was so startled to see her magic actually work - though she had studied and planned the whole year for just this thing - that for long moments she could do nothing be silently gaze at him. His face was pale and she'd forgotten how young nineteen years old looked, but his expression was peaceful, which should have set her heart at ease.

Except that his blood was bright red against the white of his homespun shirt.

And there was so very much of it.

They'd had buried him before she got home, saying that he'd been killed by a single musket shot and that he'd died instantly. He hadn't suffered, Naraku Gumo ha assured her repeatedly: The deed was over so quickly, Kurama had never known what was happening. But now Shiori saw that he'd been shot several times, and she feared if the first part of what they'd said wasn't true, there was a good chance the second part had been a lie, too.

Anger and grief returned to her voice to her. "Kurama," she whispered.

Still, he was already beginning to evaporate like the morning mist.

She reached out...

...and felt nothing...

...and by then he was gone.

The second anniversary of Kurama's death, Shiori adjusted the amounts of what she had boiling over the fire, and she made sure to gather all of the ingredients - not just the mandrake root - at midnight under the full moon.

Once again steam and vapor bubbled out of the pot, more than the heat and the ingredients could account for, and once again Kurama took shape in the cloud that formed in her kitchen.

"Kurama." She spoke sharply, and immediately, lest the spirit once again dissipated with the steam.

Shiori saw nothing to indicate Kurama was aware of his surroundings. His emerald green eyes were open but unmoving. Shiori couldn't tell if he was breathing, if his heart beat once again.

"Kurama," she called a second time, but already the steam was thinning out.

Had it lasted longer this time? Was the vision more solid? Shiori couldn't be sure. Next year she must be calmer; she must take careful note of what happened, which changes were beneficial, which had no effect. She must take her time, she scolded herself, even if she had to work with a year in between each step of the way, for the spell could only be done on October 18, the same day that he had died, and only after two-thirty in the afternoon, the hour he had died. _He won't come back next year_, she told herself. _Or the year after that_.

With that settled, she told herself: _I'd better make each attempt count_.

The fifth year Shiori worked her spell, Kurama still did not seem to see or hear her, but this time, as the steam spread out - much too early, disturbed by a draft from under the door - she saw Kurama blink.

The eighth year Kurama gazed about the room when she called his name, an unhurried, untroubled gazing, as though he heard her but was unable to identify her voice or where, exactly, it came from.

The tenth year his expression was more vague and dazed than previously and he didn't react at all to her voice, but the blood was gone, his shirt no longer tattered from musket shots.

The thirteenth year his body was still free from the wounds that had killed him, Kurama instantly looked at her when she called.

And recognized her, she was sure of it.

She stepped forward to hug him, forgetting he was just smoke and vapor, and felt something - like the memory of a touch - before he slipped away into nothingness.

_Hopefully next year_, she told herself.

And cried every bit as much as she had the year he had died.

1789

For Kurama, coming back from the dead felt like waking slowly out of a fever dream. He was aware of himself, in a way that was somehow different from the way in which he'd been aware of himself up until then - different, yet familiar. He was drifting away from someplace he hadn't intended to leave, and he felt a moment of panic. There had been bright colors and feelings for which he no longer had names, and so they slipped away from him, like a dream where the more you try to remember, the more it's gone.

But there was a brightness here, too, and sound, as though he was awakening long past daybreak to a morning already half gone. He'd lived in the same house all of his life, but for a moment he was confused, unable to place where he was in relation to doors and windows. His body was weak and ached all over, and he thought he must be just getting over a long illness. For some reason, he didn't know why, he put his hand to his chest, but that didn't hurt any more than the rest.

He heard his mother call his name, and he turned to see her standing before him. During that moment, he realized that he was standing as well, and they were in the kitchen - he couldn't be awakening from his sickbed - in that moment Kurama remembered dying.

He swayed and clutched at a chair, but let go when he realized that he was going to fall anyway. In a moment his mother was there, putting her arms around him, lowering him to the floor more gently than he'd have made it on his own, and how could that be if he was dead and she wasn't?

Kurama felt the solidness of her arm; he felt the hard wooded floor under his knees, the heat from the fireplace, and the cold from under the door. He took a deep shuddering breath and was disconcertingly aware that it was the first in a very long time.

Out on the street, Kagome Urameshi passed in front of Minamino Apothecary and saw that Shiori Minamino had the door to the shop barred and the house shutters closed. _I hope every thing's okay_, Kagome thought at the unaccustomed lack of activity .

But then she realized that date. Though it was warm for late October, Kagome began to shiver

And she began to remember, though she fought hard not to.

Fourteen years ago, Kagome was five. Seventeen-seventy-five had been a year of people shouting, that was her clearest impression. People who used to be friends spat at each other on the street. All the grown-ups were caught up in the debate: loyalty to England or independence. At the time, she didn't understand what was meant when her parents said they were patriots and the Minamino's were loyalists. At five, she only knew there were certain friends she was no longer allowed to play with, and certain people with whom her parents and their friends no longer did business with. There would be no more going two doors down and getting cookies from Mrs. Minamino, her parents said.

Fourteen years ago today, Mr. and Mrs. Minamino were away visiting a sick relative. This worked out well for Kagome because now she wasn't exactly disobeying her parent's instruction not to visit Mrs. Minamino, and because whenever the Minamino's son, Kurama - who she had a crush on - was in charge of the cookies, she'd get two instead of one. Also, Kurama let her sit on the tall stool behind the apothecary counter.

On this particular day, Kurama had opened the door between the shop and the living area, for he was working at the kitchen table, going over the account books, which meant he was being too serious to be good company. After finishing her cookies and climbing up and down the stool four or five times, Kagome had just entered the kitchen to let Kurama know she was leaving when she heard the door to the apothecary open. Kagome turned and, for a moment, couldn't make sense of what she saw - sticks? thin metal pipes? - sticking through the doorway.

All in an instant, Kurama grabbed her arm, dragged her back, shoved her head down, and gave her a hard push that sent her sprawling onto the floor behind the barrel of flour that stood between the table and stove.

There was no time for outrage. Kagome heard four explosions, muskets being fired, and the air filled with smoke and the smell of burning powder. Kurama staggered backward, his hand to his chest, as blood seeped between his fingers.

Kagome backed away as far as she could, caught in the corner between the barrel, stove, and wall.

Men came in, their boots loud on the wooden floor. Someone walked directly to where Kagome hid, shoving the flour barrel so that it tipped over.

She closed her eyes and covered her ears. But she still heard someone shout, "No!" And it sounded - Kagome could hardly hope - like her father.

She opened her eyes and looked up to the face of someone she didn't recognize. Someone holding a musket.

A moment later her father pushed this man out of his way. "No," her father said again, forcefully.

She held her arms out and he picked her up, the way he would pick her up in the morning to bring her down to the table for breakfast. In a moment, she thought, her father would use that same forceful voice to tell them to leave Kurama Minamino alone, to get bandages fro him.

For the men had force Kurama to the floor. Naraku Gumo had his foot against Kurama's chest, holding him down while the other two men reloaded their muskets. But her father said nothing.

"Daddy." she said, and he gently pushed her ace into his chest - to quiet her, to prevent her from seeing anymore than she'd seen.

He was carrying her out of the kitchen, out of the shop. How could he fail to see Kurama's danger? "Daddy." she repeated, but he told her, "Hush."

Out in the street, she heard the crack of their guns. She buried her face deeper into her father's chest, even knowing that at the same time he carried her, he juggled his hunting rifle, the barrel warm against her leg from having just been fired.

That's what Kagome Urameshi remembered about the day Kurama Minamino was killed.

Shiori sat on the chair - which was not a rocking chair - and rocked back and fourth.

Kurama was making busy work for himself, fussing with the fire, which Shiori estimated, didn't really need fussing over. But Kurama very obviously preferred not to look at her as yet. He remained crouched before the fire for a very long time, staring into the flames.

Shiori would have feared that being dead had affected the boy's mind, but Kurama had spoken. "Mother," he'd said, clasping her hand so tightly that in other circumstances it would have hurt, and "Here," as he'd helped her up off of the floor and led he, stiff and tottery, to the chair, "Sit down." As though he were speaking to one of the village grandmothers, she thought, before she remembered that now she was old enough to be his grandmother. But Kurama had always been a polite boy.

She became aware of her own rocking, and she willed herself to sit still, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

It was, after all, Kurama who finally started speaking. "How long?" he asked in a shaky whisper, finally looking up at her.

"Fourteen years," Shiori said.

That was obviously worse than he'd expected, no matter how old she looked. Kurama momentarily closed his eyes.

" Among your father's books of medicines," she said, "which were passed down to him by his father and hid father before him, were very old papers. Recipes. Mixtures." There was no use mincing words. He knew it wasn't medicines that had brought him back. "Spells. This one could only work..." Her voice caught for a moment, and she finished. "...once a year."

Kurama accepted all that. He asked, instead of any other questions he could've asked, "Where is Father?"

"He died." she answered as gently as anyone could give that answer, "after surviving the war for independence, in a riding mishap."

Kurama wrapped his arms around himself. "Can you do" - Kurama couldn't find the words and gestured helplessly - "this," - and she knew exactly what he meant - "for him?"

She shook her head.

"You brought me back."

"Because you died here," she said, the words slipping out of her painlessly after all. "I had your blood - " She didn't want to tell him how she and Bankotsu had come home to find the body already removed, surprising Keiko Urameshi on her hands and knees, crying and scrubbing at the blood stains. Shiori wasn't ready to say how she had saved that bucket of soapy bloody water, and how - when it was all used up - she had pried the floor boards up and chipped the plaster from the walls. "I had your blood to work with," she said, "and the exact spot you died."

Kurama stood abruptly, looking sick - though you'd think a man more than a dozen years dead wouldn't be squeamish - looking as though he needed to get away. But there was no place to go, and he only turned his back on her.

"There's more," Shiori said, because there was no good time to say what she had to say, nor a good way to say it. "The men who... " She couldn't say the word.

"Naraku Gumo," Kurama said in a voice little more than a whisper. "Karasu Oni and Hiten Tokigawa, Yusuke Urameshi."

Shiori nodded. It had been no secret. The act had been considered - not murder, but warfare. There had been no trials, no punishments. So far.

"Karasu Oni and Hiten Tokigawa were killed fighting during the Revolution," Shiori told Kurama. "Naraku Gumo died of a fever two years ago. Yusuke Urameshi is still alive. And he's part of the spell that brought you back."

Kurama turned to face her again, looking as though he already suspected what she was about to say, although there was no way he could. He was just expecting the worst.

She gave it to him.

"This spell only works for today," she said. "At midnight you'll die again - unless you pay back those who did this to you."

Kurama had always known his mother as kind and gentle. Now he sat at the kitchen table and listen to her calculate the best way to kill a man.

She advocated a sneak attack, at night, breaking into Yusuke Urameshi's house and killing him in his bed before an alarm could be raised.

As she spoke, Kurama realized there was a tightness in his chest that didn't go away no matter how deeply he breathed. He determined not to take a breath, an experiment to see whether he really needed air, or if it was just a habit. A live man with enough determination not to breathe would eventually faint, he knew, and then his unconscious body would resume breathing for him. Kurama wondered if he was fully enough alive for these natural laws to apply to him. Would he eventually faint and - if he did - would his body take that breath? Or was that why mother's spell had a time limit : because eventually his body would require sleep, and if he slept, he wouldn't breathe, and if he didn't breathe, he would die, yet again?

Except, now that Kurama was thinking about it, he absolutely had to take a breath.

He realized, in that ragged intake of air, that the room was silent, that mother was looking at him.

She had asked him a question, and he had no recollection of what it was.

"Kurama?" she asked, but Kurama had no idea how far she had gone without him, and he just shook his head.

Mother looked worried rather than impatient. "You have to kill Yusuke Urameshi," she said, going back to the very beginning.

"Are you sure?" Kurama protested. "Are you sure that's what the spell said?"

She rested her hand on the book that lay on the table. He had been vaguely aware of it, had seen it and assumed that it was the Minamino family Bible. It was definitely not the Bible. Mother opened the volume and turned to the appropriate page. "Raising someone dead of another's violence," she read out loud.

The book was old, faintly musty, the parchment yellow, brittle, and thicker than the paper used by Koenma Shini's modern printing press in the office of the Summerfield Observer. This book was handwritten. Kurama, sitting across the table from his mother, viewed the text upside down. The letters were tall and skinny and unadorned, so that the words looked like clusters of long-legged spiders, and Kurama wouldn't have been too amazed to see them scurry off the page. But that might have been because of the guesses he made regarding the person who had written them.

Mother had read out loud the advisories, the limitations, the preparations, the ingredients. The English was old-fashioned, obscure, but the ending seemed clear enough : " 'By the final stroke of midnight,' " Mother read, " 'the dead man must have repaid the doer of the deed, or he will sink once more and forever into the realm of the dead.' "

Even upside down, Kurama could make out those words, written in bold capitals : REALM OF THE DEAD.

Mother was watching him. Very softly, she asked, "What was it like?"

And in hearing those words, the last of it was gone around the corners in his mind so that he had to answer, in all honesty, "I can't remember." He added, "It was nothing bad." But his answer was based on little more than a fleeting impression, and a memory that, with mother's spell pulling him back, he'd hesitated.

"Still," mother said, sounding very afraid, "it must be better to be alive."

He wasn't sure how to answer, to cause her the least pain.

"I couldn't bear to lose you again," she whispered. "I've fought so long for this..."

"I like the idea of being alive," Kurama assured her.

Mother took a deep breath. "What else could 'repay' mean," she asked, "besides killing the killers?"

"Most of them are dead already," Kurama reminded her. "Without me, are the conditions already impossible to fulfill?"

"I don't know," mother admitted.

"What if I killed a man for nothing?"

"Kurama," mother said reasonably, "remember who these men are. Remember what they did."

Kurama didn't need to be told to remember. He wrapped his arms around himself, not for warmth.

"Fourteen years ago," mother pointed out to Kurama, "it was four of them against one. Now, just as I master the spell, only one of them is left. Is that coincidence or was it meant to be?"

"Don't," Kurama said, feeling that tightness in his chest despite the fact that he was breathing and breathing hard, "don't bring the hand of God into this."

" 'An eye of an eye,' " mother said. "A man is permitted to use deadly force to protect himself. If you cannot go through with this task, then I shall do it for you. But your scruples may condemn us both."

This was moving faster than Kurama could keep up with. "Tomorrow morning, when Urameshi is dead and I suddenly am not : what do you suppose everyone will make of this?" he asked. "How can they not know that we're responsible? How can they avoid calling you a witch?" These questions were not the one's holding him back.

"The town has carried this guilt for fourteen years," mother aid. "The war's over, and people are remembering how it was before. They will forgive us."

"I can't breathe," Kurama said, and headed for the door.

He heard the scrape of a chair on the floor and was brought back, instantly, to that other October 18th, when he'd looked up to see the armed townsfolk crowding the apothecary door and he'd pushed back on his own chair, knowing even then that there was no time, no way to escape. He turned away, leaning against the door for support so his mother wouldn't see how shaky he was. He managed to glare, and she sat back down again without a word.

Outside, the afternoon was moving onto dusk. Kurama began walking, so that no one would start to wonder who he was, loitering about Minamino's Apothecary.

It was too cold to be out here without a coat - surely that was something else to attract attention to him - but it gave him the excuse to keep his head down, his arms wrapped around himself, and to walk quickly, as though oblivious to others. That and the fading light, got him off the main street. One the back streets after sundown, people were less likely to stare long enough to try to put a name to a face that, at best, looked somewhat familiar.

Summerfield had grown, very definitely had grown, in fourteen years and had prospered from what Kurama could see of it. He ran his fingertips along the bricks of a building where none had been before, to remember what bricks felt like, and when the building ended, he walked beside a picket fence, feeling that too. He kept his mind intentionally blank, not thinking of what had happened, what his mother was depending on him to do, what might or might not happen afterward.

He found himself, by trying to avoid people, on the edge of the cemetery.

And at that point he could no longer keep his mind blank, and his knees buckled under him.

Mother had said he'd been buried. He presumed in the cemetery, although that wasn't necessarily so, though - again - there was no reason he could think of that he should been denied a Christian burial. Given that it was no secret that he'd been killed, and by whom. Should he look for a marker, put up by his mother, or by the citizens of Summerfield : "Sorry, political emotions carried us away," perhaps?

She had told him, eventually, the specifics of the spell.

The knowledge that somewhere, probably nearby, he had another body, that by now it would be decomposed down to a skeleton, that what felt like a body was no more than vapor formed from ingredients mother had gathered in fields and chipped off the kitchen wall - he was suddenly finding it very difficult to get enough air. He clutched at his chest, unable to tell if the pain was from unfilled lungs, or musket balls, or Naraku Gumo's foot on his chest.

With her head down against the stiff breeze, Kagome walked around a corner and saw she was coming up behind someone kneeling by the edge of the cemetery. A young man with gorgeous red hair down his back. And he wasn't exactly dressed for the weather at all.

_Yukimura's family plot first_, she thought, trying to work her way back to the grave, _then Sango Taijiya..._ she slowed her pace, not wanting to intrude, but curious - since there were no newer graves since two years ago - why such obvious heartfelt grief.

Unless the young man was not crying after all. He could be injured, she realized. Or, he could be drunk.

Kagome slowed even more.

After running several errands, she was coming home much later than she'd anticipated. The sun had set, her father and his apprentices were more than ready to eat, and Kikyou - that lazy girl who was supposed to help her in the kitchen - probably had not even started preparations for supper.

But there was nobody else around to help, if help was needed, and she couldn't bring herself to just cross the street and walk around him.

She came closer, determined to ask him if he was okay. She drew a breath before speaking.

The young man gave a ragged gasp and jerked around to face her with wide, startled eyes, indicating he hadn't heard her approach.

Kagome realized in that second, as her shawl slipped from her shoulders - he wasn't just startled, he was frightened.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He seemed to need to consider. "No." He sounded somewhat amazed, as though he wasn't used to people being concerned about his well-being. That confused Kagome, from the way he was dressed, she guessed that he was from a clean and respectable household. A merchant's son, or a journey from a master craftsman, perhaps? And he was gorgeous, no doubt he had a good many girls vying for his attention, whatever his situation.

"I'm...fine," he told her. His voice was steadier, except he had his hand on his chest, in a gesture that was familiar to her from the last year before her mother died of consumption, never quite able to get enough air to fill her lungs. Sure if he had consumption he wouldn't be out this October night without a coat. "Thank you," he said softly, and it took a moment for her to trace it back to her asking about his health.

She knelt down beside him. "Were you attacked?"

His eyes widened at that, but he didn't answer.

"No coat," she explained her reasoning. "It's rather cold to be without one." She was getting rather cold herself, sitting next to him in the evening chill, but he was wearing a thin shirt.

The young man shook his head, without a word. He gently pulled her shawl back on her shoulders and placed his arm around her. They sat there for a few minutes.

"Do you need any help?" Kagome asked. "My father's house is just down the way. You're welcomed to warm yourself up by our fire, share supper with us. You could spend the night in the apprentices' room if you need a place to stay."

Again, that look of amazement. "That's very kind of you," he said with just the beginning of a shy smile, causing her to slightly blush, "but I live only a little down this way." He indicated vaguely and convincingly. "But thank you."

Kagome wasn't sure she believed a word of this. She thought she knew everybody in Summerfield by sight, especially everybody in this neighborhood, and she tried to place him, thinking there was something vaguely familiar about him and that he might be someone's younger brother.

"What's your name?" she asked boldly. At nineteen she was something of an old maid, and old maids could be bold.

He hesitated, turning to face her. "Kurama."

No last name, and she could think of only one Kurama she had ever known, who this was very obviously could not be.

"I'm Kagome," she said to this Kurama. "Yusuke Urameshi's daughter, at the bootery."

Kurama got that panicked look in his eyes again so that Kagome checked over her shoulder to make sure no danger was approaching. He stood up, helping her to stand afterwards.

"You are welcomed at our house," she told him. "My father" - she hoped she wasn't offending him - "considers it his Christian duty to help whoever needs help."

Kurama was shivering uncontrollably. "My mother will be becoming worried," he told her, which had a certain ring of truth to it.

If he was going to refuse help, she wasn't going to be a busy body. "Take care, Kurama," she told him. In her experience, people named Kurama were not good at taking care of themselves.

He softly pulled her close to him, lightly kissing her cheek. They stepped apart and he nodded once, tersely, and set off in he direction opposite from where she was headed.

She turned back, twice, but so far as she could tell, he did not.

Shiori was not interested in revenge. If she had simply wanted Yusuke Urameshi dead, she'd had fourteen years to accomplish that. But she was determined that Kurama would not lose his opportunity to live beyond midnight. She had just made up her mind that she would set things right with Urameshi herself when Kurama finally returned, shivering from the cold that his teeth actually chattered.

"Fool," she told him, sitting him down on the stool directly in front of the fire. But she knelt to rub warmth into his hands and legs, and out a blanket around his shoulders. Then she tucked his coat - which she'd fetched from the chest in the attic, where she had packed it all those years ago - in around his lap.

But he was watching her; she saw that he'd seen what else she'd fetched from the attic. Despite being nearly wrapped in soft felt, it's long narrow shape gave it away : Bankotsu's Pennsylvania rifle.

She saw Kurama's expression. His face said, _Let me be anywhere but here. Let me be doing anything but this_.

But he held out his hand and took the rifle from her, and unwrapped it, checking it over, making sure - after all those years in storage - that it was cleaned, oiled, and ready to use.

She and Bankotsu had spent nineteen years raising Kurama to be gentle and decent and polite. She hoped the last fourteen years were enough to let him overcome that.

Long after he was warm, Kurama couldn't stop shivering.

"There's no other way," mother assured him, which was the same conclusion he'd reached, or he's have...what? Wandered off into the cold night rather than return home? His choices were definitely limited. He certainly couldn't have accepted Kagome Urameshi's offer - much as he didn't want to kill anyone, he was most certainly up to sitting to supper and after-supper small talk with a man who'd walked into his shop and, unprovoked, shot him at point-blank range.

Kurama tried to hold onto that thought : to remember the pain, the terror, the certain knowledge that he was about to die, the whoosh of undefinable sound and that incredible dizzying fall that had followed that second volley of shots. His breath caught a moment, so that mother gave another of her worried looks.

_Hold onto the thought_, Kurama told himself. _But don't share it with Yusuke Urameshi. Don't think of the terror he'll feel, or the pain_.

Or of his family.

Or of the fact that he might not be the same man he was fourteen years ago. _My father considers it his Christian duty to help whoever needs help_, Kagome Urameshi had said. Penance? How many years of reparation were necessary to erase Kurama's death from Urameshi's soul?

Except that - much as he didn't want the responsibility for Urameshi's death - neither did he want to cause his own death. Dying - twice - in what he felt like just a few hours time more than he could face.

Kurama looked up from his father's Pennsylvania rifle, satisfied - after the seventh of eighth checking of every inch, of every working part - that it was in working order and ready. The old flintlock took so long to reload, he was unlikely to get more than one chance. Still, he measured out gunpowder and wrapped, filled, and folded three paper cartridges, just in case.

He tried to blink away a mental picture of Urameshi's daughter, Kagome, as she had looked fourteen years ago, a child who used to come begging mother's cookies. She'd grown into a sweet-faced young woman, Kurama though, and kind-hearted, too : concerned for him, offering him, all unsuspecting of what he was, food and a place to stay. Her black hair still as long and curly as ever. It didn't help to think of that.

Urameshi's Boot Shop was only two doors away, though he'd walked three blocks out of his way to keep Kagome from seeing where he lived. Just past ten Kurama decided he needed to give himself time, in case anything went wrong. _What?_ he thought. He knew he could never begin to guess the things that could go wrong or how to deal with a situation already out of control.

But he was having trouble breathing again, and even the cold was better than sitting here, waiting.

He got up abruptly.

At the door mother adjusted the collar of his coat, tugging at the length of his sleeve. "Be careful," she begged, reluctant - he could well understand - to have him out of her sight. Once more she told him : "I couldn't bear to lose you again."

To which, of course, he had no answer.

Kagome still hadn't caught up to all of the things she needed to do, even though it was long after the apprentices had gone up to the attic for bed. She was sitting at the kitchen table, mending the sleeve of one of her father's shirts, when her father came in from the workshop.

"Still up?" he asked, and - before she could answer. "You work too hard. Surely that can wait until tomorrow."

Kagome shrugged. Her father had no head for running a business or a household. She said, "But tomorrow there'll be other things that need doing."

Her father rested his big gentle hand on her head. "If there's always things that need doing, you shouldn't let yourself grow anxious over things that aren't done."

"Fine words from a man who's locked himself in his workshop all night," Kagome answered back. She bit the thread off at the sleeve and started on a button that was working itself loose. "Surely Hiei Jaganshi can't be that eager for his new boots?" she asked.

Her father shook his head. "I'm just unaccountably restless." He poured himself a half tankard of ale and sat down.

Overtired, Kagome estimated. Two of the apprentices weren't working out, but her father didn't have the heart to dismiss them, for no one else was likely to take them on. Just as no one else was likely to ever want to hire or wed her supposed helper, cousin Kikyou, and they were likely to be stuck with her the rest of their lives. The trouble was, Kagome thought, her father was just too kind-hearted. Without Kagome to look out for him, he would be helpless.

But, coming on the thought of what day it was, she realized that wasn't exactly true.

She said, not quite knowing why, except that she was overtired, too, "Minamino Apothecary was closed and shuttered today."

Her father didn't need to pause to consider. "Fourteen years," he said. "Kurama Minamino would be older now than I was then." That was a thought to unsettle a person. Her father shook his head. "It was the right decision for that time. God have mercy, he was a danger to us all, and it was the tight decision to kill him."

Kagome had heard this story, from more people than just her parents - how Kurama had been in a position to know things that could have gotten dozens of patriots killed.

Her father said - what she didn't need to hear because she remembered it well enough herself - "But I saw him push you to safety when he could have used you to shield himself. And that knowledge has haunted me every time I've closed my eyes since."

Terrible things happened in war, she knew - that had seemed to be the topic of four out of five of Pastor Houshi's sermons all the years she was growing up - and she might just as well blame Kurama Minamino for having chosen the wrong side of the struggle, for choosing a side that in turn caused her father to make a decision that haunted him. She certainly owed more to her father, who had - to her, to everyone in the world besides Kurama Minamino - been the kindest, most generous person she knew.

She remembered how he'd stood, moments later, his hand to his chest, bleeding. Would he have had time - if he hadn't spent it on her - to duck, to evade the bullets? To escape?

Was Kurama Minamino dead because she'd been there?

"Maybe I will save this for tomorrow," Kagome said, setting the needle above the wobbly button.

"It's definitely time everybody should be in bed," her father agreed, staring into his tankard rather than looking at her.

Shiori sat in her kitchen, rocking in her chair that wasn't a rocking chair, and stared at the book that had told her how to bring Kurama back from the dead. Was it permitted, Shiori wondered, did it make sense for someone as deeply involved in witchcraft as she had become to pray? To pray for the death of one man and the life of another?

The cold seemed to seep into Kurama's bones as he waited, hiding crouched between bushes and fence in the dark of the Urameshi's side yard. The knowledge that, really, after fourteen years his bones should be used to being out in the cold, did nothing to warm him.

_Go to bed_, he silently wished at whoever it was that was still awake, with the lights peeking out through the chinks in the shutters of the workshop and what, by the placement of chimneys, must be the kitchen. There had been a light in the attic, too, presumably the apprentices had gone to sleep or that somebody had gone up there and then come back down.

How many apprentices did Urameshi keep? Kurama wandered. And were they boys or young men? And were they - or Urameshi himself - likely to be working into the morning hours on some projects that needed completing? These were all questions that he could have asked Kagome Urameshi when he'd had the chance, if he'd been level-headed and practiced enough in deception to have though of them.

A clock in the Urameshi's parlor chimed eleven times.

What if the time approached midnight, and the Urameshi household was still up? Or, what if they did go to bed, then Kurama couldn't get the door open? Or, what if he did manage to break in without waking everyone - would he be able, in the dark, to tell which was Yusuke Urameshi's room?

Too many things to consider, too many things that could go wrong.

If he thought about them too much, he wouldn't be bale to move at all.

The lights in the workshop were extinguished, just as Kurama realized he could probably have done worse than tap quietly but firmly at the bootery door and hope that Urameshi would be the one who came to investigate.

After a few minutes a light appeared, briefly, in a second-floor window, then it, too, was blown out, leaving only the kitchen light on. Sukey Urameshi, or Kagome? Or one of the apprentices? Or the hired girl mother had said the Urameshi's had taken on?

Kurama was very aware of the passing minutes. Mother's spell made him keenly attuned to exactly how much time he had left.

The light in the kitchen stayed and stayed on.

Kurama blew on his fingers to warm them, shifting his position to keep his legs from cramping. He tried not to picture Kagome coming awake at the sound of father's Pennsylvania rifle discharging. Kagome running into the room. Kagome seeing her father dead.

Seeing him standing over her father's body. Come morning, if he succeeded, there could be no doubt in any body's mind, so it seemed more honorable to stay rather than run, to try to explain... would that make things better or worse for Kagome? He tried to put himself in her position and could not.

And the light stayed on.

Kurama stood. In his spell-enhanced awareness of time, he knew that there were ten minutes left till midnight. The time had run out for hoping to do this in the dark. He took several deep breaths, flexed his fingers. He realized that he was just taking up time, still hoping.

He bit the end off one of the paper cartridges, poured the charge down the rifle barrel, and rammed ball and paper down the top. Then, without pause, he stepped up to the door and knocked, not loud enough to rouse the house, but to clearly identify himself as a visitor rather than a sneak thief. Kurama lifted the Pennsylvania rifle to his shoulder.

Nothing.

Kurama lowered the rifle long enough to know a second time, more forcefully, then hastily raised it again.

"Door's open." Urameshi's voice called out.

Any more noise and they were sure to have Kagome - if not the apprentices and maid, if not the neighbors - down here too soon.

Kurama weighed opening the door the hastily raising the rifle and aiming and firing from the doorway against actually entering. Certainly, the closer he was to his target, the less room there was for error : missing or having another person in the kitchen get between Kurama and Urameshi.

At best, the rifle took a full minute to reload. Realistically, he would have only one shot.

Realistically, his hands were already shaking.

He swung the rifle around so that he was holding it - muzzle up, stock towards the ground - in his right hand. He hoped he would still be able to move quickly when he judged the time right.

Kurama opened the door and walked into the kitchen.

Yusuke Urameshi was sitting at the table, an ale tankard in front of him. No weapon, Kurama noted. Nobody else in the room.

Kurama swung the Pennsylvania rifle up to his shoulder.

Against all expectation, against all reason, Urameshi said, calmly, softly, "Hello, Kurama."

Kurama froze.

Urameshi said : "I've been expecting you a long time."

The muzzle of the rifle wavered as Kurama's hands trembled, though Kurama told himself that Urameshi must have run afoul of another Kurama, must have him confused with someone else.

It didn't make any difference. Kurama felt no inclination to take on the role of avenging angel. He didn't need for Urameshi to understand what was happening or why. He didn't need or want Urameshi's fear. He only needed to kill Urameshi in order to live.

"It's all right," Urameshi told him. "I understand."

But even as he spoke, there was the sound of bare feet hurrying down the stairs, and Kagome's worried voice calling, "Father?"

For the first time, Urameshi looked afraid. He looked terrified. "Don't hurt her," he begged, a whisper so Kagome wouldn't hear. "She had nothing to do with it."

Kurama couldn't let the man die thinking his daughter was in danger. "I know that," he assured Urameshi.

And at that moment Kagome entered the kitchen, wearing a night dress over which she'd hastily thrown a shawl over. "Is some - "

She stopped, seeing her father, seeing him standing just across the table from her father, pointing a rifle at him.

Then, proving he hadn't mistaken Kurama for someone else. "Kagome," Urameshi said, as though the three of them had met before, "you remember Kurama Minamino. He and I have some unsettled business. Go back upstairs."

Kagome recognized him from that evening, Kurama could tell. "Kurama Minamino?" she repeated numbly. She glanced from him to her father to the Pennsylvania rifle back to him. Suddenly her eyes widened, and Kurama knew she recognized him from much further back than this evening.

"Kagome, this doesn't concern you," Urameshi said. "Go upstairs."

"No," Kagome answered.

There were only minutes left. Kurama could feel them slipping away. Still looking at Urameshi over the rifle barrel, Kurama said to Urameshi, "What do you mean, you've been expecting me?"

"You've haunted my dreams," Urameshi said. "I thought you were a waking vision" - Urameshi nodded to indicate the tankard of ale he'd been drinking - "Expected a ghost to have knocked." Another pause. "This is something of your mother's doing, isn't it?"

Kurama took a steading breath, knowing that not so very long ago people who had tried what mother had done had been hung, stoned, or burned at the stake. "There's no other way," he said so that Kagome wouldn't testify against her. "The only spell my mother could find to bring me back requires that I repay what was done to me." He was having trouble breathing again, which could have been fear, or the fact that his life was drawing close to an end. He only had a minute and a half left to kill Urameshi. He sighted down the rifle's barrel.

- and Urameshi, nodding, said, "I'm sorry."

Kurama was able to drag in a ragged breath, then another. "Why?" he demanded shakily.

"We realized you'd learned about the weapons stored in Naraku Gumo's barn. There was a British detachment heading toward Summerfield, and we were afraid you'd tell them about it, give them the names of the leaders of the rebellion."

"I wouldn't have done that," Kurama protested. He was shivering and he spoke with his jaw clenched to keep from chattering. "I would have done nothing that would have gotten people killed."

Urameshi nodded, but said, "There was no way for us to know that."

Seconds left. Kurama tightened his grip. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I understand," Yusuke answered, the second time he'd said that.

Kurama tried to hold the rifle steady.

Yusuke braced himself.

Kagome covered her mouth, but a soft cry escaped anyway.

Kurama felt the last seconds ticking away. All he had to do was tighten his finger the least bit, and he could live.

"It's all right," Yusuke told him, no doubt worried that, the way Kurama was shaking, Kurama was likely to only wound him, that it would required reloading and multiple shots to kill him - the way it had taken with Kurama himself.

From the parlor Kurama could hear the first chime of the Urameshi's clock proclaiming midnight.

A sharp pain pierced his chest. _Now or die_, he thought as the bell rang out a second time. If it wasn't already too late. Despite the pain he got the rifle steady...

...but couldn't inflict that pain on another.

The bell rang a third time and Kurama let the rifle swivel to point downward. The pain was dizzying and he dropped to his knees but managed to keep hold of the weapon, afraid that dropping it might cause it to discharge.

On the fourth ring he got the rifle safely set on the floor, wrapped his arms around himself to keep from crying out and prepared to die.

On the fifth ringing of the mantel clock, Kagome realized what she was happening : that her father was to live, and that Kurama Minamino was to die.

_It's not fair_! she thought. _Why can't they both live_?

The bell rang a sixth time. She met her father's anguished look, and he shook his head helplessly. "I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely.

A seventh ring.

Father was sorry, Kurama was sorry, everybody was sorry; didn't that count for anything?

Eight...

Kagome rushed forward, to hastily kneel beside Kurama, to put her arms around him, to hold him close. She wasn't going to let him die alone a second time.

"Don't go..." she whispered, holding him closer.

Nine...

There was a shadow at the open kitchen door. "No!" Shiori Minamino cried. Her shawl flapping around her so that she really did look like a witch, Mrs. Minamino ran into the kitchen and reached for Kurama's rifle on the floor.

Ten...

Kurama brought his hand down on the barrel. "Enough," he gasped. Kagome felt him shudder. "Enough."

Eleven...

Twelve.

Kagome tightened her grasp on him, not knowing what to expect.

Nothing happened.

He continued to breathe, somewhat raggedly, for another several seconds, but he worked to bring his breathing under control. His face was drawn from pain, but already he was beginning to get some color back.

Mrs. Minamino sank to her knees in front of Kurama. "I'm sorry," she said. She turned to look at Kagome and her father, repeating, "I'm sorry," then turned back to Kurama. "I thought there was only one way to pay back violence."

Kagome supposed this made more sense than it sounded like. She supposed it was the answer to one of the many questions that, eventually, would need to be asked. But for the moment she didn't have the energy to ask any of them.

Somehow - she doubted she'd ever learn exactly how or why - they'd all been given a second chance : her father, with his hand over his face; Kurama's mother, holding desperately onto Kurama's hand; Kurama, with his head lowered, obviously still too shaky to speak, his arm wrapped around her waist; and she herself.

She rested her head on Kurama's shoulder. Second chances didn't come to everyone. She hoped they would do well with theirs.

A/N: I hope I didn't scare any Kurama fan girls into thinking he died and junk. As a reminder, I own nothing of what I written. The story's owned by Vivian Vande Velde, Inuyasha by Takahashi-sama, and Yu Yu Hakusho by Togashi-sama. I will gladly answer any and all questions you may have. Also, I wrote this story from memory, I haven't read it in 3 years and I still remembered it. Please tell me what you thought...plus a sequel is in the making.

Foxicles


	2. KagBuyo: Goodbye

Goodbye

By: Foxicles

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

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Summary: Goodbyes are never easy, and Kagome never expected to have to say goodbye to him for quite a long time but she has no other choice. With tears streaming down her face, she holds him close and cries as she spends one last night with a member of her family. Sometimes, life can be so cruel.

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a/n: For me, this is a very sad, angst one-shot. If you've ever been through the same thing that I'm putting Kagome through, then you'll understand why this is an angst. Anyway, this story is dedicated to my aunt, who went through the same thing this past summer.

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Kagome couldn't believe what she had heard. He was slowly dying, her only friend that she had ever confided anything in was dying. Last time she had returned from the feudal era, he had seemed fine, healthy and in the past three weeks since she had been gone, he deteriorated into almost nothing. He could barely breath or move, for that matter and it broke Kagome's heart to see him this way. Souta had already shed his tears over the matter and was now downstairs talking happily on the phone with one of his friends, completely unaware of the turmoil his older sister was going through.

How could he know, he hadn't know him for as long as she had. She had known him practically since the day he was born and her love for the little guy grew as they had done. How could she say goodbye to him, the only member of her family that had been with her the longest? She couldn't, she didn't know how. All she could do was spend what little time he had left with he and let him know that she loved him with all of her heart, like she was doing now despite her tears.

He laid there, sprawled out on her bed, panting for air as Kagome stroked his fur with blurry vision. He was her cat, her friend, and by this time tomorrow he would be gone. No longer would she return home after an argument with Inuyasha to hear his comforting purrs and feel his soft fur as he rubbed up against her legs when she went to feed him. Tomorrow, she was taking her beloved pet Buyo to be out to sleep so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore and it tore her up inside.

Laying down in her bed, she curled up around Buyo and held him close to her as she continued to cry. All the cat could do was meow in confusion and purr in hopes of comforting her. His whiskers tickled her face as he licked away her tears, causing Kagome to giggle slightly.

"Buyo," she choked out in misery. "You have no idea how much you mean to me. You're the only I feel like I can talk to about my problems with Inuyasha and the hunt for the shards. You've always been there for me since the day I first got you. You're one of my most bestest friends that I've got, how can I just say goodbye?"

Buyo looked at her strangely, as if trying to figure out why she was so sad. "You're lucky that you're an animal and don't understand what's going on, what's going to happen to you tomorrow. Momma says that it's for the best...so you won't be put threw any more pain and I have to agree with her on that. I don't want you to live in pain anymore but then again I don't want to lose you either. I love you Buyo, you're my best friend." sobbed Kagome as she continued to stroke Buyo as the night went on.

It was early in the morning when Kagome, her mother and Buyo arrived at the vet. Tears still continued to leak from Kagome's eyes as her mother went up to the secretary's desk to let her know what they were here for. Kagome sat down in one of the chairs, taking Buyo out from his cat carrier to hold onto him one last time as to not forget him. Her mother joined her side and placed a comforting hand on her distraught daughter's shoulder, a look of pity and remorse in her eyes. Maybe, once Kagome got over the pain she was feeling, she'd get her another cat if Kagome was up to it.

The doctor came out from behind the back door and walked up to Kagome, his gentle blue eyes soft as he knelt down before Kagome laying his hand on hers. She looked into his eyes as her tears continued to fall. "It's time." he softly said. "Would you like to take him back so you can say goodbye?" Kagome nodded and rose to her feet, following the doctor to the back room. Once they stood outside of the door where Buyo would be put down, Kagome kissed the top her felines head and whispered softly for the cat to hear.

"Goodbye, my friend..." and she handed Buyo to the doctor and returned to the waiting room where she broke down sobbing in her mothers arms. Her mother lead her out to the car and drove her home, telling the secretary that she'd be back in a few minutes to retrieve the cat's body for burial. The secretary nodded in understanding.

Nearly an entire week had passed since Buyo had been laid to rest by the God-Tree and Kagome had still not recovered from it. Laying open beside her were photo albums that contain pictures of her and Buyo going all the way back to when she first got him as a birthday present from her father. Some of the pictures were laying scattered around Kagome's slumbering form, having been taken out from the albums. She had never felt so lost and alone like she had the first night without Buyo yet she was beginning to pull though it all. Even Souta stopped teasing her over how emotional she was after seeing how hard she truly was taking the loss of the fat fuzz ball. Every day, she was getting better and cried less and by the end of the month, she may be able to stand getting a new kitten, not that it could ever replace Buyo in her heart. No animal could ever replace Buyo to her.

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A/N: Dear lord, I need another tissue. This is something that has been bothering me ever since Girlie-Girl, my aunts boxer, had been put down due to having a rather large tumor in her throat. I just had to get it out. Okay, so how was it? Be honest with me too, I really want to know what you guys think. Laters!

-Foxicles


	3. BanKag: Raining Blood

Raining Blood

disclaimer: I do not own these characters, just the plot.

"Gomen nasai. I must decline your offer Akitoki-sama." Kagome softly replied to the son of the local daimyo of Akebi Village. Akitoki sighed in slight defeat and lowered his head to hide the disappointment shining in his eyes. "I am sorry, I really am but I cannot marry you."

"Iie, Kagome." Akitoki softly responded as he failed miserably to keep the hurt out of his voice. Kagome cringed with guilt at the sound of Akitoki's pain filled voice. "I should not have just sprung this on you like I did." Akitoki turned away from Kagome, his shaggy bangs shadowing his muddy eyes from view and he swiftly walked off from Kagome.

"Akitoki-sama," Kagome softly whispered into the gentle whisperings of the wind, her long obsidian tresses flowing gracefully behind her like the wings of an angel. Her pale gray-blue eyes reflected her inner turmoil over Akitoki's visit to her. She barely knew him, having only met him once back when she was still a geisha before the war began.

Dismissing her memories before they could take root in her mind and replay themselves in perfect detail, Kagome sighed as she began making her way towards her dearest friends hut. It had been two days since she had last visited Suzuka and she missed the idle chit-chat they shared on everyday life. The dirt roads were barely crowded as the sky was an ominous slate hue meaning that a storm was approaching the area soon yet Kagome didn't mind at all.

As Suzuka's hut came into view, Kagome froze in her spot. There, standing in front of Suzuka was none other than Akitoki. The conversation the two were having carried over to Kagome as she stood frozen to her spot. It was the same conversation that he had held with her only moments ago, Akitoki was proposing to her best friend after a mere few minutes of being turned down by Kagome herself. Suzuka's joyous reply of yes echoed over and over again in Kagome's ears causing tears of utter despair to bubble up.

"How can this be?" Kagome thought with a heavy heart. "Does this mean that he only pretended to be heartbroken by my words?" A feeling of total rejection overcame Kagome's whole being and she quickly turned and rushed back towards her very own hut, all the while fighting back her urge to fall to her knees and sob. She had honestly thought that Akitoki had been sincere with his words earlier, that he had truly wished her to be his wife even if she didn't want to. Akitoki hadn't truly cared for her like he had led her to believe and that hurt her more than him proposing to Suzuka had.

The loud crackling of thunder did nothing to hinder Kagome in her desperate plight to return to her hut, if anything it quickened her pace. Fierce sheets of icy rain splattered onto the roads, turning the dirt into muddy puddles making it harder on Kagome to run. With her face downcast from the rain Kagome did not see the male figure before her wearing plate mail and she bumped into him, falling backwards on to the muddy ground. She hiccuped once before looking up at the samurai before her, his bare hand held out to aid her back to her feet.

"Otsukarechima, kind sir." She stated as she took his offered hand and was soon returned to her feet. She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say or do when the samurai spoke to her curtly.

"O tome, it's not safe to be wandering about." His gruff voice strictly stated. "There's a very dangerous mercenary running about and he would have no problems silencing someone quite like yourself in mere seconds. Return to your home and open the door for no one."

"Hai." Kagome replied after the samurai began walking away. Following his example, Kagome continued on her way at a slower pace to avoid crashing into anyone else that was rushing to get indoors. Her home was in her sights and it wouldn't be long now that she could curl up on her futon and forget about all that had occurred just recently. As her hand made it's way to open the door, loud coughing surrounded her as did the sounds of heavy footsteps. The footsteps were soon followed by a muffled grunt and the sloshing of a body hitting a wet surface.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Kagome turned around to see what was going on. The sight before her forced her to hold back a scream. Laying just a few feet away was a young man, scarcely older than herself. His clothing was stained with his crimson blood while mud caked onto his skin and hair. Without thinking of her own safety, Kagome rushed over and knelt at his side.

"Onegaishimasu, ogenki desu ka." she murmured as she made sure he was still breathing. A soft smile graced her face as she noted that he was alive. Standing up, Kagome attempted to lift the man up to his feet but to no avail, he was just too heavy for her. Taking a few breaths to regain her strength from trying to lift the unconscious male, Kagome stared down at him. As each moment passed, his injuries appeared all that much worse.

There was simply no way she could let him die out here. Telling herself over and over that she was his only hope of survive the night, Kagome found the strength to lift the man up ever so slightly and began to pull him towards her home. She stopped twice, to open and close her door before coming to a rest next to her futon. What little strength that she had gave way and she could no longer support his weight. Kagome sank to the floor, dropping the man in the process.

His crimson blood flowed freely from his chest wounds and Kagome bit her lower lip in worry. Taking a deep, calming breath, she rose to her feet and walked over to one of the shelves on the opposite side of the room. Taking but a moment to think her actions through, Kagome chose one of her smaller kimono that was no longer of any use to her and a handful of medicinal herbs to bind his wounds. She placed the items next to him before retrieving her mortar and pestle and a small bowl of water for cleaning his wounds.

A small, barely noticeable blush stained her cheeks as she proceeded to remove his haori. With the bloodied garment removed, Kagome was able to get a closer look at his injuries and softly gasped. There were two slash wounds to his abdomen and one across his chest that just barely missed puncturing his heart. Tears once again filled her eyes as she gazed down at his blood-stained chest and Kagome tried her hardest to keep her body from trembling with very little success. Ripping a strip of cloth from the smaller kimono, Kagome used it as a washcloth and proceeded to clean his wounds thoroughly.

Setting the bowl and cloth aside, she used the mortar and pestle to smash and grind the medicinal herbs into a salve and rubbed it onto his wounds. Her blush deepened as she did so, her hands being able to feel his finely chiseled chest. She willed herself to stay focused on the task at hand and ripped up the rest of the other kimono to bandage his wounds. Satisfied with her work on the bandaging, Kagome once more took the washcloth into her hands and washed his face clean of all the dirt and blood that clung to it.

"Oh my, he's quite handsome," Kagome murmured softly to herself as she took in his facial features. A firm jawline and the ruggishly handsome structure of a teenager graced her vision and Kagome felt her heart skip a beat. Her blush never once left her face as she sat by the man's side and she silently prayed for his survival knowing that she had done all that she could have to help him. The weight of the day finally caught up to Kagome as she sat by his side on her futon and the young sixteen year old slumped over onto his chest in a light slumber, her arms slung around his waist in a gentle embrace.

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The soft pitter patter of the rain greeted Bankotsu as he slowly became conscious once more. The events from the previous night were a blur to him and he was fully aware of the searing hot pain coursing through his chest and abdomen that he bit back a groan of agony. His arms were sore and there seemed to be some sort of pressure laying against him that kept him from rising into a sitting position. Cracking his deep midnight blue eyes opened, Bankotsu glanced down at his chest and his vision was greeted with silkened tresses of obsidian black hair and a creamy delicate feminine hand.

His breathe hitched in his throat and Bankotsu found it hard to breathe for a moment. A soft moan of discomfort emitted from the creature laying against his bandaged chest before it shifted its position ever so slightly. His breathe left him as he gazed down at the slumbering beauty before him. Elegance, like that of a geisha came to mind when he first saw her and he was most certain that this young beauty had indeed been a geisha before the war. Her skin was pale and felt as soft as silk against his skin and her lips, slightly parted, appeared to almost be in a small childish pout. Bankotsu felt a shiver run down his spine as her soft breath hit his skin and he found himself yearning to kiss her.

The soft fluttering of her eyelashes against his bare skin alerted him that his savior was returning to the conscious world. He watched with amused eyes as she blinked a few times, unaware that he was watching her. A pretty cherry colored blush crept upon her cheeks once she realized where she was and she made to move hastily. Bankotsu frowned at this. He had found her presence around him to be quite calming and he did not wish to lose that feeling just yet. As she pulled herself up into a sitting position, he wrapped his arms around her torso and gently pulled her back to him eliciting a small gasp of surprise from the female.

"Herumonjanai," he murmured, his throat dry and irritated. "Don't go just yet."

"Y-yoshi." Kagome softly stuttered, both surprised and relieved that the man was okay. With her head once again resting on his chest and she brought her arms up to rest on his chest. Both individuals basked in each other's presence, taking silent comfort from the other. It was peaceful and the two were nearly lulled back into the crevices of slumber when loud shouting from outside penetrated the atmosphere, jerking the two out of their revere.

"The samurai..." Kagome quietly whispered to herself, Bankotsu just barely hearing her words. His body went rigid and he released his hold on the petite woman. Driven by curiosity, Kagome once more rose to a sitting position and up onto her feet. Gracefully, she made her way closer to her window, intent to see what was going on when a strong, muscular arm wrapped around her waist and the cool steel blade of a dagger pressed against her throat.

"Don't even think about it, wench." Bankotsu gritted lowly as his head rested next to her ear. "Easy on the eyes or not, I won't allow you to turn me in."

"I don't understand..." Kagome nervously stated, her body trembling within his hold. "What're you talking about?"

"I know you're going to call the samurai over here to take me away and I'm not going to allow it."

"You're the mercenary they're looking for, aren't you?" The dagger's blade was pressed closer to her throat, slightly cutting the skin. Kagome's heart began to pound fiercely in her chest and she was at a loss for words at what to do or say next. She closed her eyes and leaned back against him in a small attempt to lessen the pressure applied to her throat from the dagger.

"They're not going to take me away."

"I wasn't going to turn you in, I swear."

Bankotsu's eyes narrowed and he withdrew the dagger from her throat yet his hold on Kagome on tightened. "Why did you save me?"

"Why wouldn't I save you? I couldn't bare the thought of leaving you to die out there in the rain." she responded meekly. The dagger in Bankotsu's right hand fell to the wood floor and he wrapped his other arm around Kagome's body. The two stood there in silence as the noise outside began to disperse and it was quiet once more.

"Speak a word of this to anybody and you're dead." He murmured into her ear, his husky voice sending shivers down her spine. Kagome stood still as he relinquished his hold on her and made his way over to the door.

"You're too injured to be moving about. Stay here until you're completely recovered." Kagome stated with her eyes downcast to the floor. For the first time since rescuing him, she took notice of her kimono stained mostly in his blood.

Bankotsu froze at her words and he turned around and gazed at Kagome. He was astonished at her appearance, the light pink kimono she wore carried bright crimson stains of blood and patches of dried mud and grim. He slowly looked up at her face and saw a look of that he believed should never be on a woman's face no matter how old she was. Droplets of tears were gathered at the corners of her eyes, refusing to spill forth and her soft, cherry lips were slightly quivering. Bankotsu took a step closer to Kagome, his eyes not once leaving her downcast ones that were nearly hidden behind her bangs.

"I'm gone once I'm healed." he stated coolly. "You understand that, wench?" Kagome looked up at him, a gentle look in her eyes.

"Kagome, not wench." He smiled somewhat, liking the way her name sounded to his ears and he smiled cockily at her.

"Bankotsu." came his reply to her name and Kagome smiled up at him.

"I understand, Bankotsu." she told him.

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Gomen nasai – sorry (formal)

-sama – suffix indicating great respect, admiration, status

daimyo – Lord

Akebi – type of shrub

iie – no

geisha – Japanese singing and dancing girl

samurai – Japanese warrior

otsukarechima – thank you

o tome – young maiden

hai – yes

onegaishimasu – please

ogenki desu ka – are you alright?

haori – shirt

herumonjanai – It's no big deal

yoshi – all right


	4. BanKag: A Mercenary's Heart

disclaimer: I do not own these characters, just the plot 

She sat patiently by her window awaiting for him, fearing that he wouldn't return this time as she had done so many times before. It was raining lightly outside her window like it had been that night that he stumbled into her life near death and bleeding severely. She had taken mercy on his soul, something that nobody else would have done and rushed to his side without second thought. The light pink kimono she had worn that night was permanently stained in his blood, a rather morbid reminder of that fateful night for the both of them yet it was a cherished item by the couple. Pushing her thoughts aside for the time being, she once again focused outside of her window, watching with abated breath as a few samurai patrolled the streets in search of rogues and vagabonds and Kagome silently prayed that her love made it back to her safely.

It was just after nightfall and there was no true need to start worrying for him as of yet, but that was all that Kagome seemed to do whenever her lover was away. She worried a great deal about him and his safety, something that wasn't surprising at all. Her lover, Bankotsu, was a fearsome mercenary that lived for adrenaline rush of slaughtering those he was hired to take dispose of. He was never the kind to just kill for fun even if he did seem to have that air about him. He was dangerous and untameable, and that was what worried her the most. Another thing that caused fear to rise within the very soul of her being was that he always said that he would never return to her, that he wasn't coming back but he always found himself with her held firmly in his arms after every job he did.

Watery eyes drifted up towards the heavens above as they rained down the tears of those forsaken in this time of war and famine and Kagome trembled with the burdens of both her heart and her mind. How did she come to love such a man as she had? How was it that he was the one her heart had chosen to love for all eternity and nobody else? Before Bankotsu had entered her life, the local daimyo's son had briefly suited her to be one of his bride's and she had all but verbally turned him down. He had reluctantly accepted her decision before rushing off to court her best friend who was now married to the young daimyo. Had she ignored that little voice in the back of her mind telling her to wait then she too would have been married to the same daimyo as her friend and wouldn't be in the position that she was currently in. Her tears cascaded down her angelic face in soft streams and she walked away from the window with a broken heart.

"How foolish am I to think that he'd always return?" she murmured to herself as she settled down by the small fire she had going for her tea. Pulling the silk handkerchief out from within the folds of her obi, Kagome carefully dabbed her tears away before removing the kettle from the fire. A bittersweet smile graced her face as she poured herself a small cup of peppermint herbal tea but that didn't help to ease her any. As hard as she tried, she just couldn't keep her mind off of Bankotsu for a minute even with as hard as she tried to reason with herself that he wasn't interested in a simple woman such as she. She sighed, listening to the rhythmic pitter patter of the rain as it struck the ground outside in a soothing manner.

The tea was fragrant and sweet to the taste, washing over her like a calm brook over its pebbled riverbed. Slowly Kagome began to succumb to the fatigue that had been plaguing her ever since she had finished gathering herbs from the fields and she hid a yawn behind her delicate ivory hand. Setting her half finished tea down she made her way into her sleeping chambers only to be halted by a rather forceful knocking at her door. She could automatically tell that it wasn't Bankotsu for he rarely ever knocked on her door when he returned, he would just always enter without a second thought. A strange feeling washed over her, a feeling of foreboding and slight dread that she ignored, convinced that it was just her tired mind playing tricks on her.

Standing by her door, she took a deep breath and softly called out. "Hai?"

"Akete kudasai!" the harsh, scratchy sound of male's voice tore through the night causing small shivers of fright to race down her spine. She hesitated, her hands trembling. "By the order of the samurai, I demand that you open this door!" Kagome gulped, unsure if she should believe the man's words. Not wanting to get into trouble if what he said was true, she warily opened the door. Standing in her doorway was a man ten times her petite size. He was dressed in the armor of the local samurai yet didn't appear to be a samurai. He was bald with malevolent honey colored eyes and burgundy stripes running upwards from his chin to past his eyes.

"Is there something I can help you with, sir?" Kagome asked in a meek and timid voice, hoping to get rid of this unusual man as soon as possible. He smiled down at her, a lustful expression in his eyes and it took all of Kagome's will power not to flinch at the sight. The look that he gave her made her very uncomfortable and she fidgeted slightly under its intensity.

"There is." he stated in a deathly calm voice that betrayed no emotions. "You can die." Kagome's eyes widened in shock at his statement and her body froze in its spot. She gasped loudly as he slammed her back into a wall, his hand firmly and tightly wrapped around her throat. On instinct, her hands grasped his wrist in a futile attempt to free herself. The man chuckled darkly at her, enjoying himself immensely as tears sprung forth from Kagome's pale eyes. Her hands fell limply to her side as she continued to fight for a breath of air as she slowly began to slip into unconsciousness, barely hearing the quickened footsteps heading her way.

"What the hell is going on here?" a husky voice gritted out angrily.

"What's it look like?" He grunted out in disgust. "She's just a worthless woman, Bankotsu. She's not worth the kimono she's wearing."

Bankotsu's dark eyes narrowed into a penetrating glare as he lifted his broad sword up to the base of the offending man's neck. "This is your last warning if you value your life." He gritted out, jabbing the point of his banryuu into his flesh to make his point clear. Kagome, barely conscious at this point, started slumping in the grasp of her attacker. The man, who apparently knew Bankotsu snorted in disdain.

"And if I don't?" he retorted in an arrogant voice.

"Then you die." Bankotsu stated icily. The unknown man snorted in disgust as he relinquished his grip on Kagome's neck and she proceeded to collapse forward as she took rapid breaths of air. As quick as he could, Bankotsu rushed forward past the man and caught Kagome in his arms, an unreadable expression on his face. Seeing the red hand marks on her neck infuriated him and he turned his smoldering gaze to the man's face. "I told you to leave her alone, Renkotsu, not to bother her."

Renkotsu rolled his eyes at his friend, well maybe not anymore and responded in a cruel tone. "It's just too tempted to leave someone like her alive." Bankotsu gently placed Kagome down on the floor and stood up, his eyes suddenly cold and emotionless. A devious smirk played across his face as he swung his blade in one hand.

"Too bad. Looks like you've lost that opportunity the moment you crossed me." Without a second thought on his part, Bankotsu plunged his banryuu through Renkotsu and left it there as he turned back to Kagome. Masking all emotions from his face he knelt back down and scooped her up into his arms, closing his eyes as she moaned in slight discomfort against his armor. "I'm sorry for this." He whispered into her black tresses of silken hair. Her arms found their way around his neck as he began carrying her away from her small hut in the fishing village she had never left in her entire life, the rain still falling, washing away the blood from her doorstep as it pooled together in the streets.

Her eyes softly fluttered open and she stared questionably up at the only man she could ever love. "Bankotsu?"

"Shh." he told her softly. "I won't let anything happen to you." A small slip of a smile made its way onto her face as she rested her head on his shoulder. That was as close to an 'I love you' that she would ever get out of him and she felt honored by it. Without another word, Bankotsu continued to carry the woman who had captured his heart that night she rescued him from death's door...a night much like this one. A feeling of contentment washed over the mercenary and he, too, smiled his first real smile since being a child. He had found his heart within the mere slip of a woman in his arms and he wasn't going to lose it again.

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Akete kudasai – please open; open up


	5. YoukoKag: Whiskey Lullaby

Whiskey Lullaby

Romance/Angst for charrie deaths

written by: Foxicles

song by: Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss

Charries: Kagome, Youko, Kuronue, Shippou, Hiten and Manten, Koenma, Sesshoumaru

Pairing: Youko and Kagome

Disclaimer: I don't own the charries, their shows, or this song so please don't sue me

**song lyrics **

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**She put him out like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette**

**She broke his heart he spent his whole life tryin' to forget**

Youko stood there in shock. The woman who was going to become his mate was throwing him out of her home. Tears were pouring down her face as she threw anything her hands could a hold of at the kitsune that had captured her heart a few months ago when she found herself lost in Makai.

"Youko Kurama, I never want to see your womanizing face again!!" screamed an enraged Kagome, her silver tipped kitsune ears flattening to her skull.

"But, Kagome. I can - " began Youko to only be cut off as Kagome smacked him hard across his face, stunning the kitsune bandit into silence. His golden eyes looked down at the woman he loved in a cold, hard stare. His silver ears mimicking Kagome's, laying flat against his skull. His eyes softened as he stared at Kagome. Sighing, he turned from her and left, not speaking again.

Kagome broke down in tears after Youko was out of hearing range. She still loved him with all of her heart, but there was nothing she could do now. She couldn't take back her words or her slap. She was stupid to think that he'd leave his womanizing ways behind just for her, she had over heard him telling Kuronue about the latest vixen he had the pleasure to spend time with.

From the shadows close to Kagome, Kuronue stepped out. His dark eyes looked down at the heart-broken female kitsune crying her eyes out. Though he sympathized with her, he refused to turn his back to his thieving partner Youko. Stretching his wings, he turned to the direction that Youko had left in before speaking to Kagome. He knew very well that if he looked at her face he'd turn his back on his long time friend.

"You brought this all upon yourself." The bat demon said coldly before he departed to find his friend. Kagome cried even harder as the bat demon vanished in the distance, her arms wrapping around her torso.

**We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time**

**But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind**

Youko was drunk once again. Since the day Kagome shoved him out of her life, he had done nothing but drink sake and pull off jobs, trying to forget all about her. He never could. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her angelic face blessing him with her smile. Her eyes shining like sapphires caught in the sunlight.

Kuronue sat on the other side of his friend, watching him deteriorate before his very eyes. Things had been this way for the silver kitsune since he had lost the love of his life, Kagome. Although, Youko had been at fault, Kuronue still convinced himself that it was all Kagome's fault. He knew otherwise, though, having warned his friend to stop seducing other females, but Youko never listened to the voice of reason and refused to change his ways.

Without looking up, Youko staggered out of the bar he and Kuronue were in, still intending to pull off the job they had discussed earlier that day; a job that took him back to the very same place he first met Kagome. As drunk as Youko was, he didn't show it one bit in the way he walked around, not staggering or stumbling. Kuronue summarized that it was because he was a kitsune and kitsune's were always graceful and elegant. He followed his friend out of the bar. They were headed for a palace in the Western domain, a palace that once belonged to the Lord of the Western Lands. Now, it was used by Reikai as a store house for very valuable artifacts and such.

**Until the night**

As Youko broke into the palace, all he could think of was Kagome. She had been held prisoner in the room where the item was that he wanted. Sesshoumaru had her locked in there because she had refused to become his mate.

"Youko, you need to concentrate." Kuronue whispered to the kitsune in concern. He was right beside his friend and could tell that he was lost in his memories. "Let's just get this jewel and get out of here."

**He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger**

**And finally drank away her memory**

"Right." Youko agreed after being pulled from his thoughts so abruptly. Kuronue went on ahead, as Youko slipped back to thoughts of Kagome. With his mind pre-occupied, Youko slipped up and set off an alarm. Cursing under his breath, he turned and tried to get away before being caught. He knew that Kuronue would escape easily and undetected. Youko had no such luck as he soon found himself surrounded by guards.

**Life is short but this time it was bigger**

**Than the strength he had to get up off his knees**

Pulling out a rose, which quickly turned into a whip, Youko attacked the guards, but ended up injured. He quickly dispatched the guards surrounding him and sifted forms into his animal form, running away from the palace. Another group of guards chased after him, one shooting an arrow at the retreating silver kitsune. The arrow struck Youko in the heart, but the guards would never know because they had lost sight of their victim in the long grass that surrounded the palace.

**We found him with his face down in the pillow**

**With a note that said I'll love her till I die**

Youko didn't have any strength left when Kuronue found him moments later. He laid there in a pool of his own blood, something that he would never do. Kuronue looked down at him, a knowing look in his eyes.

"You just couldn't forget her, could you Youko?" He asked solemnly. The kitsune whimpered. "If I ever see her again, I promise to watch over her for you."

Youko sighed, his golden eyes thanking his friend as he laid there dying. The last thought he had was of Kagome. Seconds later, he was dead. Kuronue bowed his head in sorrow yet refused to cry. He took Youko's body and left the plain-like clearing, knowing where to bury Youko's body, the willow tree where Kagome and Youko had confessed their undying love for each other.

**And when we buried him beneath the willow**

**The angels sang a whiskey lullaby**

**La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la **

Kagome sat underneath a cherry tree, her eyes devoid of life. It had been three years since Kuronue found her and told her that Youko was dead. He was covered in his blood and watched as the young fire kitsune fell apart before him. Kuronue had wanted to comfort her, knowing that she blamed herself yet he just disappeared into the shadows, masking his scent to keep his last promise to his best friend.

**The rumors flew but nobody knew how much she blamed herself**

**For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath**

She sat there, her little brother sleeping in her lap. Their otoosan had left to see what was taking their okaasan so long. They were fleeing from their home, a home that Kagome returned to after hearing of her love's death. The reason they were fleeing was because of the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten. The two had become quite bloodthirsty for other demons and it was no longer safe for them too stay there.

Her little brother woke up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Kagome-neesan, when is otoosan and okaasan returning? They've been gone for quite a long time. I'm worried."

**She finally drank her pain away a little at a time**

**But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind**

"They'll be here soon, Shippou-chan." Kagome answered her little brother, stroking his fluffy tail. "They'll be here soon . . . " Shippou snuggled into her stomach, attempting to comfort her. He hadn't been born yet when Youko had been killed and had no idea what was bothering her.

There was a bright flash of lightening streaking through the sky. Kagome looked up at it as the metallic scent of blood filled her nose. It was her and Shippou's otoosan's blood. Holding onto her brother as she ran towards the direction where their otoosan had left in.

She couldn't see what had happened to her otoosan, she could only see the Thunder Brothers as they stood side by side, scanning the area for who she could only presume was herself and Shippou. Setting Shippou down on the ground, she looked into his eyes.

**Until the night**

"Shippou, I want you to go as far away from here as possible. And whatever you do, don't look back." She told her brother. Shippou nodded and bounded off into the forest. Sighing in relief, Kagome pulled out the rose Youko had given her so many years ago. It had never wilted. Holding it close to her heart, Kagome approached the Thunder Brothers.

**She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger**

**And finally drank away his memory**

Her eyes never portrayed emotion as she stared into the crimson eyes of those who had killed her and Shippou's parents. "You will both pay for this." She stated in an emotionless voice. Her mind was one the only thing it had been on for the longest time: Youko. Still holding onto the red rose, Kagome lunged at the brothers.

Laughing Hiten jumped into the air. "Foolish kitsune!!" he screamed out in pride. "Do you honestly think to stop us?" He was sneering down at the girl. She never responded. Manten opened his mouth and shot out his lightening breath at Kagome. She barely dodged in time.

**Life is short but this time it was bigger**

**Than the strength she had to get up off her knees**

She couldn't concentrate on the battle before her as she slowly dropped to her knees from the slight burn mark she received from Manten's attack. Her mind was screaming one word at her, Youko. Hiten took her distraction as an advantage and plunged his spear through her heart in hopes of hearing her scream out in pain. Nothing brought him more pleasure than causing a woman pain. His ears were only greeted with the whisper of :

"Youko . . . " from the kitsune. He pulled his spear out of the girl and watched perplexed as she slumped forward, clutching the rose like it was her only reason to live. Tears streamed down her face as her blood seeped out of her wound. "Youko . . . " She whispered once more.

Manten joined his brother in the air and the two of them stared down at the kitsune female. She smelled heavily of sake and the stench of death was slowly seeping into it. She had just died, yet they were perplexed as to why she didn't put up more of a fight like the other two kitsune who they killed.

**We found her with her face down in the pillow**

**Clinging to his picture for dear life**

Kuronue followed Shippou to where he was being lead, not knowing what to expect. After Kagome had returned to living with her parents, he had stopped watching her. Something didn't feel quite right to the older bat demon. Shippou stopped just before he reached the edge of the forest.

"She's on the other side," Shippou told Kuronue. "Please, help her. She's the only family I have left."

"I'll try." answered Kuronue, but he could tell by the scent coming from up ahead that she was all ready dead and that the Thunder Brothers were long gone by now. "Stay here." Kuronue went into the clearing and found Kagome's body clutching a rose, one of Youko's he presumed. Her eyes were slightly opened but she was dead. He heard Shippou's cry of shock as the kit ran off.

Kuronue closed her eyes and took her to where he buried Youko, knowing that she would have wanted it that way. After his task was done, he said a small prayer his okaasan had once taught him. He prayed for their souls to find one another so neither one of his beloved friends would have to spend eternity alone. He once again bowed his head, removing his hat.

"May you both find happiness with each other in the afterlife." Kuronue whispered into the night's air.

**We laid her next to him beneath the willow**

**While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby**

**La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la **

Kagome approached the willow tree with a heavy heart. Looking up, she saw a familiar silver kitsune standing just a few feet away from her, his back turned to her. She barely had the strength to stand as she stared at the kitsune, daring herself to believe that it was actually Youko. She rose to her feet and silently approached him, stopping a foot away from him.

Youko felt a presence behind him, a familiar one. He couldn't place where he had felt it before, but knew that he knew it from somewhere. Slowly he turned around and locked gazes with Kagome. Tears were pouring out of her eyes as she looked at him. He offered her a gentle smile and she lunged into his arms, nuzzling his neck. He held her close to him, his arms tightening around her.

"I'm so sorry, Youko. I'm so sorry." Kagome cried into his shoulder.

Don't be," he told he softly. "I'm the one that needs to be sorry."

"I love you."

"I love you, too." Youko told her just before pulling her into a kiss.

**La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la **

**La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la **

Koenma looked down at the two ghostly figures by a weeping willow tree. He felt bad for the two souls. Death had reunited them together, but their lives had driven them apart in the first place. He sighed as they faded from his sight, signifying that they had moved on to a better place and no longer held onto the living world. He could only hope and pray that they still managed to stay together. After all, they deserved some happiness.

-End


	6. KuraKag: First Love

First Love

Romance

written by: Foxicles

song by: Utada Hikaru

Charries: Kagome, Kurama, Kuronue, Koenma, Sesshoumaru

Pairing: Kurama and Kagome

Disclaimer: I don't own the charries, their shows, or this song so please don't sue me.

**song lyrics **

A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Here's my present to you. Hope you all enjoy it!

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Japanese Terms used in story:

youkai - demon

inu - dog

Ningenkai - Human Realm

iie - no

-ku - prefecture/district

Sakura Tani-ku - Cherry Blossom Valley District

-sama - term used to show respect for your elders, bosses, or superiors

ningen - human

Yo yogi Park - one of Tokyo's largest and most pleasant city park featuring wide lawns, ponds, and forested areas

taiyoukai - Great Demon/Demon Lord

kitsune - fox

okaasan - mother

obaasan - grandmother

owari - the end

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Koenma sat at his desk facing two youkai with a solemn expression on his face. The youkai before him were as different as day and night, one being a silver inu youkai and the other a black bat youkai. Both were around the same height and held an air of superiority about them. He took a deep breath before addressing the two before him. "I fulfilled your requests, they've both been reincarnated into the Ningenkai." The two nodded their heads simultaneously.

"You didn't mess up and make them related, did you?" the silver inu youkai questioned the small figure of Koenma in a monotoned voice, his hard golden eyes boring into Koenma's hazel brown ones.

"Iie, I did not but I had to pull a lot of strings for that to happen." Turning his attention over to the bat youkai, Koenma continued. "Your friend was reincarnated first, two years before she was. He's currently residing in Meiou-ku Tokyo." Koenma turned back to the silver inu youkai. "Hai, he's two year's her senior. That's the best I could do without causing too much suspicion on what I was doing. She's in her last month of high school in Sakura Tani-ku Tokyo although she's home schooled for obvious reasons. She is, after all, one of Tokyo's more popular teen idols."

"We thank you, Koenma-sama, for all that you've done for those two." The bat youkai replied, his dark eyes returning to the file in his hands.

"What is it that you two plan to do with them, might I ask since I put my butt on the line for this." inquired Koenma.

"Isn't it obvious, Koenma-sama." the silver inu youkai stated in a bored tone. At the blank look on the little ruler's face, the bat youkai spoke up once more.

"Giving them a second chance at what could have been between them." Koenma nodded and looked over at the silver inu youkai in confusion.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you have no qualms with this? Even with how you felt about her in the past?"

Sesshoumaru snorted, his golden eyes narrowing. He sighed in exasperation. "And what qualms would this Sesshoumaru have? She is a ningen now and this Sesshoumaru refuses to take a ningen as his mate." Koenma nodded in understanding.

"Very well then." Koenma stated in an official voice. "If you're planning on bringing them together, Kuronue, you have a very short amount of time to do it in. Next week, Minamino Kurama is going to receive an acceptance letter from the American school of Yale and depart for America shortly afterwards." Kuronue nodded as he absorbed the information.

"Is there anything you can tell me about her? Anything that could be of aid to me?" Kuronue asked. Koenma opened up the file that sat before him and he scanned over it. He closed the file a moment later.

"In two days, Higurashi Kagome will be giving her final concert for the month at the Yo yogi Park at 8pm." Koenma opened the file briefly and pulled out an envelope and handed it over to Kuronue. "There is a front row ticket to her concert and a backstage pass for you to pass along to Minamino Kurama. If you have any hope of accomplishing what you both have set out to do, then jump on this opportunity."

The two youkai nodded before turning their backs to Koenma. "Thank you for all of this helpful information, Koenma-sama." Kuronue said just before exiting the young ruler's office with Sesshoumaru. With that taken care of, Koenma returned his full attention to all of the paper work that had piled up on his desk that had accumulated during the time he assisted the two taiyoukai.

Like he had done so many years ago, Kuronue watched her from the safety of the shadows. He smiled to himself as he thought back on more happier times of his two best friends. His dark eyes twinkled in mirth at how much she resembled her former self with a few exceptions. Instead of reddish auburn hair tipped in silver that reached down to the top of her knees, she sported a head full of luscious raven's wing black hair which was currently very faintly curled. In all actuality, the curls looked more like they were created by her twirling her fingers throughout her hair. Her lips were still that pale rosy color that complemented her still ivory skin. The one thing that amazed him the most though were her eyes, her still sparkling sapphire eyes. They were still as mesmerizing as they were then and he nearly found himself lost within their endless depths as he had been when Youko had returned with her nestled in his arms.

Shaking out of his revere, he fondly watched her rehearsing a few new dance moves for her performance that night. She was off in her own little world, completely oblivious to the eyes that watched her every twirl and sway to the music she listened to with her ipod that she did. She stopped suddenly, taking Kuronue by surprise and she removed her head phones and took her ipod out of her pocket, placing it on her bed as she walked over to her desk. She stood there for a moment or two with her back to her window, blocking what she was doing from Kuronue's eyes. A pout graced his feature's and he crossed his arms as he truly wanted to know what had stolen her attention from her graceful and elegant dance routine she was performing. His answer came moments later as she turned around and tossed her cell phone onto her bed next to her ipod. She looked to be in lower spirits than she had previously been in and she didn't return to her previous activity, instead she turned her light off and left her room.

Kuronue's curiosity to where she went was soon answered as he saw her walking underneath the tree he had perched himself in. She soon disappeared from his sight, heading off in the direction to the street where the bat youkai was sure a limo was waiting to pick her up.

_'Must have to go for last minute rehearsal's at the park.'_ he mused as he stood rooted to his spot for a few moments more. With a sigh, Kuronue sped off like lightning to Meiou-ku, his destination was his former partner's apartment complex. He had to make sure that Kurama had found the envelope and was going to go to the concert. If not, then he'd have a more difficult job to do. He cursed Sesshoumaru at that moment who got the easiest job of the plan. How he let the silver inu talk him out of being the one behind the scenes at the concert was beyond anything he could think of. _'Almost there.'_ Kuronue smirked as he saw the building come into view. Without breaking his stride, Kuronue leapt the five stories and landed soundlessly on the balcony to one of the apartments. After masterfully picking the lock, he slipped inside the apartment and once again took up residence in the shadows, using ancient youkai magic to conceal himself from being spotted.

At that precise moment, Minamino Kurama entered his apartment with a defeated sigh. Stress was evident in his features and his eyes were shadowed by his rose red bangs. Kurama truly looked different than the legendary Youko and that caused a swell of disappointment to well up inside of Kuronue. He had hoped that his life long friend and thieving partner's reincarnation would have been more like Kagome's was, an almost complete replica of his former self. Long rose red hair spilled over the young man's shoulders in such a way that it did remind the taiyoukai of the once feared silver kitsune bandit as did the paleness of his skin.

Kuronue watched Kurama as the young male walked farther into the apartment. Kurama, unaware that he was being watched, dropped his car keys down on the table next to his sofa and collapsed into a nearby plush chair. Rubbing his temple, he groaned in suppressed agony as he anticipated his okaasan's call. He had just come from her home, having had a long discussion, more like an argument, over what would happen if he was accepted to the foreign school. His okaasan soon became upset with him, even going so far as to protest against him getting an 'American' girlfriend. The young male could not believe what he had heard. He was so shocked over this new revelation that he had said his goodbyes and left.

While Kurama mulled over what had happened over at his okaasan's house, the phone in his apartment rang. Kurama's head lulled over in the direction of the phone and his eyes popped open. Eyes as green as an emerald, sharp and vibrant warily stared at the black cordless phone not more than two steps away next to his keys. The number that was being displayed was that of his okaasan's, the last person he wanted to talk to at the moment. Deciding against his better judgment, Kurama refused to answer the phone's call and just waited until the ringing stopped to move around.

"I need to get away for a few hours," Kurama murmured to himself as he rose to his feet, a thoughtful expression on his face. He went over to his bedroom door and disappeared through it and before Kuronue could even quirk an eyebrow, the young man returned with an all to familiar envelope in his left hand. The corner's of Kurama's mouth perked upwards in a very Youko-like smirk which caught Kuronue off guard. Kurama's attention went from the envelope over to the wall where Kuronue was hidden in and for a split second Kuronue swore that, not only did he lock gazes with him but that Kurama's eyes had flashed gold.

"Better not look a gift horse in the mouth," he murmured as he took out both the ticket and backstage pass. Grabbing his keys from the table and ignoring the ringing phone once more, Kurama exited his apartment intent on forgetting his current problem. Kuronue stood in his place, trying to understand what had just happened to no avail.

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Rolling her eyes, Kagome leaned back against one of the trees close to where she was going to be preforming in less than a minute. Her manager was watching over the finishing touches and making a big fuss over a small mess up with the lighting. To her, this was the only drawback of being a teen idol but other than that she enjoyed her career. She sighed again in exasperation and almost flopped down onto the ground. Kagome refrained from doing so as to not set off her manager anymore than he already was.

"Alright, every thing's finally in place." Kagome's manager squeaked out before turning his hazel brown eyes onto the teen idol. "Higurashi Kagome, it's time to take your place on stage." Kagome nodded as she walked up onto the stage, pure adrenaline drumming through her veins and fueling her body. This was the moment that she lived for each and every single day, stepping on stage and singing her heart out. It made her feel alive.

People were beginning to arrive and the seats were filling up fast. Kagome stood backstage and peered out amongst the crowd and suppressed a giggle of excitement. Her eyes scanned the crowds for the familiar faces of her friends but the lights were too dim to really tell. Sighing in defeat, she turned back to her manager and mentally rolled her eyes as he ran around in circles telling the people involved with the lighting what color films to place in front of the lights and where to shine them. Within a matter of moments, everything was taken care of backstage and all that was holding up Kagome's performance were the people still taking their seats.

Kagome was currently awaiting her cue to step on stage when something told her to look back out into the audience. Unable to ignore the feeling, Kagome peeked out from the curtains once again and her sapphire eyes locked onto a pair of emerald ones. Stumbling back slightly, Kagome nearly fell to the ground in shock. She had not expected what had just happened. The moment her eyes had locked with those emerald ones, their was a jolt of familiarity that shot through her heart and caused it to race. It had taken her by surprise.

Leaning against one of the pole's holding up the curtain, Kagome took deep calming breaths in hopes of pacifying her racing heart. Lightly shaking her head, Kagome nearly missed her cue to go out on stage and quickly composed herself before taking her place in front of the curtains. With her head down and back turned to the audience that had yet to be revealed from the other side of the curtain yet, Kagome smiled and made a few final adjustments to her outfit and headset before turning around just as the curtain was being drawn.

"How is everyone tonight?" She called out into her headset microphone. The entire crowd screamed out in excitement at seeing Kagome, clapping and hollering out, some were even whistling. Kagome giggled at the crowds enthusiasm. "I hope you all enjoy yourselves and have fun, but let's not get too out of hand, okay? I'd hate to actually have to have security escort any of you out. Now on with the show!" Turning around again, Kagome winked at her musicians and they began playing the opening for her first song. She was already starting to have fun and grinning like there was no tomorrow.

One hour had passed and the concert at Yo yogi Park was drawing to a close and the last song of the night was just beginning. It was slow and melodious and something that none of Kagome's fans had ever heard before. They all were silent and Kurama focused solely on Kagome. She was so familiar to him that he couldn't shake the feeling of knowing her for a longer amount of time yet that seemed to be impossible to him. He was puzzled by this and hated the feeling. At the song of Kagome's voice starting her last song of the night, all thoughts left him and he could only stare in awe at her, remembrance of another life flickering in his mind.

**"Saigou no KISU wa**

**TABAKO no FLAVOR ga shita**

**NIGAKUTE setsunai kaori"**

Vibrant green eyes met and clashed with dazzling sapphire eyes and Kurama's breath caught in his throat. Those eyes spoke volumes to him and called out to his very soul and he felt a yearning in him that he had never felt before in this life and it was a feeling that he knew he didn't want to lose.

**"Ashita no imagoro ni wa**

**Anata wa doki ni iru n darou**

**Dare wo omotteru n darou **

**YOU WERE ALWAYS GONNA BE MY LOVE**

**Ituska dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo**

**I'LL REMEMBER HOW TO LOVE**

**YOU TAUGHT ME HOW**

**YOU ARE ALWAYS GONNA BE THE ONE**

**Ima wa mada kanashii LOVE SONG**

**Atarashi uta utaeru made"**

Flashes of the past played through both Kagome and Kurama's mind of a silver haired male kitsune holding a female in his arms with auburn hair tipped in silver, their eyes were locked with the other. One molten golden, the other the same dazzling sapphire. Words of love and devotion echoed within their minds.

**"Tachidomaru jikan ga**

**Ugokidasou to shiteru**

**Wasure takunai koto bakari**

**Ashita no imagoro ni wa**

**Watashi wa kitto naiteru**

**Anata wo omotteru n darou**

**YOU WILL ALWAYS BE INSIDE MY HEART**

**Itsumo anata dake no basho go aru kara**

**I HOPE THAT I HAVE A PLACE IN YOUR HEART TOO**

**NOW AND FOREVER YOU ARE STILL THE ONE**

**Ima wa mada kanashii LOVE SONG**

**Atarashii uta utaeru made**

**YOU ARE ALWAYS GONNA BE MY LOVE**

**Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo**

**I'LL REMEMBER HOW TO LOVE**

**YOU TAUGHT ME HOW**

**YOU ARE ALWAYS GONNA BE THE ONE**

**Made kanashii LOVE SONG**

**NOW AND FOREVER..."**

As she finished singing, Kagome couldn't tear her eyes off of Kurama, her eyes were sparkling in uncertainty as the music slowly ended. Snapping out of her daze, she forced herself to look away, addressing the audience for the final time. "I hope you all enjoyed yourselves! Good night and have a safe trip back to your homes! Until next time!" Kagome practically ran backstage behind the curtains, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, a blush finally taking over her face. Attempting to calm down Kagome paid no attention to her manager or the person behind him as he came up to her.

"There you are Kagome," Her manager squeaked out. Kagome looked up at the man and giggled at his squeaky voice. "You've got someone here to see you. He has a backstage pass."

"Okay, Jaken-san." Kagome replied with as much ease as she could muster. She watched her toadish manager as he waddled off in a disgruntled mood. If it wasn't one thing it was another putting the man in a foul mood. Straightening up, Kagome turned around and met those same green eyes that had her mesmerized on the stage and she forgot to breath, her blush returning to her cheeks fully. Kurama smiled at her, briefly nodding his head in greeting to her. Smiling back, Kagome returned the gesture.

"It's a pleasure meeting you again...Youko." Kagome said as she stood before him, the visions from before still fresh in her mind. Kurama smirked even more.

"As straight forward as ever, ne Kagome-chan?" he responded before taking her into his arms. Kagome giggled lightly, tears shining in her eyes as she held him back, nuzzling her face into his chest.

(10 years later)

"Kura-kun, hurry up. You're kaasan is expecting us. I don't wanna be late." Kagome stated from the doorway to their house.

"Coming, Kagome-chan." He responded as he came into view, a small bundle in a blue velvet blanket held securely in his arms. He handed the bundle over to Kagome who took it graciously, cuddling the little red haired baby in her arms. She looked up at her love and smiled.

"Kentake, are you ready to meet your other obaasan?" Kagome cooed to her beautiful baby boy as Kurama led the two loves of his life over to the car. Hidden in the shadows of the beloved sight were two taiyoukai, one a silver inu and the other a black bat with a large rimmed hat. Their eyes held satisfaction that the two reborn kitsune spirits had finally found peace and happiness with each other. Their work completely, the two vanished from where they stood, never once being detected by the happy couple.

OWARI.


	7. KuraKag: One More Day

One More Day

Angst

written by: Foxicles

song by: Diamond Rio

Pairing: Kurama and Kagome

Disclaimer: I don't own the charries, their shows, or this song so please don't sue me.

**song lyrics **

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He had been told countless times to let her go and move one, but the proud kitsune couldn't. She had been his life mate and he couldn't disrespect what that meant. His close friends had never known about him taking a mate or even being interested in doing so. The kitsune was grateful for that. He didn't want their sympathy and tears or for them to treat him differently.

As he walked silently to his destination with a bouquet of roses in his left hand, he remembered how he met her during a field trip his school took to the museum. Her school was also there and they had snuck off from their tour groups, bumping into each other in the concession area where they spent the remainder of the trip. The memory only served to cause him more pain then condolence.

His friends were following him, concerned over the drastic changes in both his personality and behavior. There were days when he was closed off from everything, where he couldn't muster up the strength to get out of bed while on other days he was violent and angry, snapping at anyone who said anything to him.

He made it to his destination, making his way over to the sixth row. He laid the roses on top of the grass as he sat down, leaning against a polished marble stone. His friends were a little hesitant to follow the crimson haired youth into what they knew to be a cemetery yet their concern for him wouldn't allow them to just let him continue on like he was. They entered, making sure not to be seen. The group of four, which consisted of three boys and one girl, saw him sitting in front of a grave and got as close as they could without being detected or seen.

**Last night I had a crazy dream**

**A wish was granted just for me**

**It could be for anything**

**I didn't ask for money or a mansion in Malibu**

**I simply wished for one more day with you**

"I dreamed of you again last night. It wasn't like all of the others I usually have." Emerald eyes glistened with unshed tears as his broken-hearted voice echoed throughout the empty cemetery. "We didn't have any wealth or a huge mansion on the coast, we just had each other. It was as if my wish was granted, even if it was only a dream." Lowering his head, he allowed the tears he held back for so long to finally fall. "It was like I had another day with you."

His friends didn't see the tears fall nor did they hear any signs of it. They sat in silence as they listened to their friend talk to the gravestone he leaned against.

**One more day**

**One more time**

**One more sunset baby I'd be satisfied**

**But then again**

**I know what it would do**

**Leave me wishing still for one more day with you**

Clenching his fists tightly he continued speaking in a voice full of grief. "It's not fair! I've more than paid for my past and I'm still suffering from it! I should have been there...I should have been there..." he trailed off, his tears coming more freely now.

His mind wandered back to all of the times they had spent together in quiet bliss. Countless sunsets, moonlit walks, cuddling in each other's arms while it rained and the passion-filled nights since mating caused him to lose himself more in his grief. He snorted in sorrow.

**First thing I'd do is pray for time to crawl**

**I'd unplug the telephone, keep the tv off**

**I'd hold you every second, say a million I love yous**

**That's what I'd do with one more day with you**

His friends exchanged confused glances with one another before turning their concerned eyes back on the object of their worry. They watched as he leaned his head against the tombstone. As he spoke again. they could hear the total anguish in his voice. The auburn-haired female tapped the others on their shoulders, indicating that they should leave. The males complied and they all left the cemetery undetected.

"Dammit!" he cursed, slamming his fist into the ground. "If only I'd have known that our time together was limited then I wouldn't have taken it for granted, I'd never have left your side. I would have forced time to stop just for you and ignored everything else. I'd have held you closer to me and said that I loved you more often like I should have."

**One more day**

**One more time**

**One more sunset baby I'd be satisfied**

**But then again**

**I know what it would do**

**Leave me wishing still for one more day with you**

"You're my life, my partner, my mate!" he blurted out brokenly. "I'd give anything to have you back, to please you once again...to smell your intoxicating scent once again. DAMMIT, why'd you have to play the hero?! Why'd you have to die?!!"

**One more day**

**One more time**

**One more sunset baby I'd be satisfied**

**But then again**

**I know what it would do**

**Leave me wishing still for one more day**

"I still love you, koi." He kissed the stone.

**Leave me wishing still for one more day**

He stood up and started walking away, his head titled down shadowing his eyes.

**Leave me wishing still for one more day with you**

He stopped a few feet away and turned back to the gravestone in the dying rays of the sunlight, the name engraved glittering. "I'll see you again the same time tomorrow, koi."

**One more day**

He walked off, leaving the cemetery for the evening with a heavy heart. His mind was occupied with thoughts of the one who occupied the grave, his loving mate. On the gravestone was the name he could no longer speak without crying.

'R.I.P.

A loving wife and caring soul, she will be missed by all but never forgotten

Kagome Minamino

Born: September 30, 1987 Died: April 16, 2005

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A/N: Well, here it is. I hope it wasn't too sad for you guys. Please review and maybe, just maybe I'll make a sequel to this. Later.

Foxicles


	8. HidanKag: To Remember

To Remember

Romance/Angst

Alternate Universe and Major OOCness

Pairing: Kagome and Hidan

Disclaimer: I do not own those of Inuyasha or those of Naruto

Authoress' Note:There has been a minor edit to this one-shot and a sequel is coming out shortly told in a different charries pov. The sequel is called "To Regret" and should be followed by another sequel entitled "To Live". I hope you enjoy this edited version of "To Remember" and I'll dedicate the sequel to the first person who can spot the difference between the old version and the new version. Enjoy.

"Talking" 'Thinking' (side comments made to enhance the story yet to be taken as past occurrences in the sad story) _Flashbacks_

It was a cool April evening, just days after spring had started, that found one member of the feared Akatsuki lost in thought. It was very uncommon for this particular member to be so quiet and approachable as usually he was cursing up a storm or shoving a pike threw his chest (for religious reasons, of course). His fellow partner in village desertion couldn't help but take long glances at him, a bit of concern flashing in his eyes at the now quiet and semi-docile nature for an S-Class criminal and wanted man.

Hidan paid little mind to Kakuzu as they continued on their travels to a place he knew oh so well, his former home. Though he would never own up to coming from anywhere if he had things his way but alas, things almost never went right for the Jashinist practitioner at all. After all, it was years earlier that found him running from it all with a heavily broken and marred heart which lead to his discovering of Janis, a religion where one inflicts great bodily harm and intolerable amounts of pain on themselves as a sign that they are alive (really, it was more like a religion where one could maim and cut themselves without having anyone consider them severely mentally unstable).

Hanagakure wasn't much of a hidden shinobi village either. I mean, come on? What kind of shinobi village would go by the Village Hidden by the Flowers? And the kaze, Banakage? The Rose Shadow? How threatening is that Kage of them all? Not very in terms of name, I can tell you that much. Maybe that was why he took off after becoming Jonin rank? No, that wasn't it at all and Hidan knew this, he knew the true reason why he left and why he resented his home village more than anything. And seeing the flowers spawned from the event in mind did little to soothe his anger and hatred towards everyone and everything.

_Team Sayuri had just returned from the Chuunin exams that were held in the __neighboring Hidden Village of the Grass. The young silver-haired (and only male member of this team) bore an angry scowl on his face, his eyes not really focusing on anything in particular. His two teams mates (they could pass for twins, honestly) ran on ahead of him and_ _their Jonin instructor (also a woman). The giddy laughter that came from ahead had managed to make him smile a bit._

_"Hey now!" The Jonin shouted out to the two twelve year olds up ahead. "Stay in sight and don't get too far ahead!"_

_"Yes Sango-sensei!" Both girls replied yet they paid no attention to her words. Sango fumed at this, her chocolate eyed flashing at the girl's direct disregard of her warning as they disappeared from the dirt pathway._

_"Kagome! Kikyou!" Sango screamed out, her anger quite apparent by now as her hands fisted together in tight balls at her side. Hidan looked back at Sango with a quiet sort of repose. "Hidan, Kagome will listen to you. Call her back here now."_

_"What makes you so sure she'll come?" Hidan asked softly._

_"Don't give me that." Sango retorted as she turned to regard her only male pupil. "Everyone in the village knows that you and she are pretty close. She practically adores you. Now, do as I say."_

_"Fine." Hidan grumbled to himself before calling out. "Kagome. Come here now!" Within seconds, a black blur dived right at Hidan and latched onto his left arm in the form of a young girl. Her hair was barely below her shoulders and her brownish-gray eyes danced as she giggled softly. Hidan donned a small, barely visible smile at the girl's behavior and he was secretly proud of how she had come to him._

_Another girl, almost exactly identical to the one attached to Hidan's arm showed up close to Sango, a deep scowl on her face. Her hair was about waist length and her eyes were as brown as dirt. Sango glared at both the girls before giving them one long lecture about how dangerous it was to run on ahead in such gaiety that they had done and that an ambush could have easily taken their lives. Both girls paid her little mind._

It had been this very same road that Hidan and Kakuzu were traveling down know that that little incident had taken place. And to Hidan, that meant that they were almost too where it happened. He scowled as his thoughts grew darker and he cursed his Leader for sending him back to this village.

_They were newly appointed Jonin of Hanagakure, new and inexperienced. Hidan watched in veiled mirth as his team mate and beloved twirled around in pure happiness of their achievement. After all, it was a miracle that they had even passed their Chuunin exam on the first try, they had been clumsy and only managed to win their matches by pure luck._

_"Hidan!" Kagome cried out as she latched herself to him, a gentle and soft smile on her face. He returned her smile with softness that no one knew he had, well, no one but Kagome. "What are we going to do to celebrate? I mean, we are going to do something, right?"_

_"I'll surprise you." He stated. She grinned happily, kissing his cheek softly._

_"I'll meet you back in the village okay?" She asked. At his nod, Kagome departed in a black blur, one that she was known for. Kagome was the fastest kunoichi in the village and as such, everyone knew of her and called her the Shadow Walker as she did appear to be a shadow as she ran._

_He started back to the village at his own slow pace, thinking over just how he was going to go through with this. He had put it off until they had become Jonin and now that they were, he was resolved to ask Kagome to be his wife. When loud screams penetrated his hearing, Hidan took off as fast as he could to see what was wrong. If only he had known what he would see at the end of his run, he would not have gone in the first place._

_Blood was everywhere and the Hunter Nin of Hanagakure were surrounding a body, presuming dead body if Hidan were to make a guess. The once white lilies were colored red ('Lilies were Kagome's favorite flower,' Hidan briefly noted to himself). The Nin turned around and looked at Hidan through their masks before vanishing as if they had never been there. In their wake, they left Hidan to clearly see the body of their victim, something that no Hunter Nin would have done._

_With eyes wide and a body in shock, he observed the body of his fellow team mate and girlfriend, Kagome. Her brown eyes were opened and reflected shock over her sudden demise, her hair was splayed against her back, surrounded by lily petals and blood pooled all around her. She was dead. Those of his village had killed one of their own._

_Anger swelled up inside his chest, anger and pain. Hidan could not stand it anymore and he turned from the body, silent tears falling down his cheeks. He tore the hitai-ate from his head the slammed it into the ground before running off the way he came. His hatred from his home village growing and rooting inside his chest. He vowed to one day return and make them all pay for what they had done._

Hidan froze once they had reached the spot of his beloveds death, Kakuzu continuing on ahead not aware that his partner had stopped. He eyed the ground where her body had been, the lilies still blood red despite all the time that had passed from then. His heart ached more and more and his right hand gripped hold of the pike he used during his religious ceremonies. A sadistic smirk crossed his features and smoldering eyes turned towards the path that would lead him home. Today was the day that they'd pay. He would avenge his beloved and see to it that Hanagakure burned to the ground. Screw his orders, he would get his revenge and deal with the consequences later.


	9. ItaKag: His Present

His Present

Romance

Alternate Universe and OOCness

Written by: Higurei Kagome

Pairing: Kagome and Itachi

disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor Naruto

Authoress' Note: A little Christmas present for all of my readers. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Kwanzaa all.

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It was cool and crispy that evening with snow falling in curtains outside the cavern lair of the Akatsuki. Every member could be found lazing about inan aloof manner without much of a care, something rather rare for a group of nukenin. Outside in the snow and frost covered wonderland stood a black-cloaked figure, her back turned away from the entrance. She was in deep thought as she watched the snow fall, her lips pursed together and her eyes somewhat glazed over.

It hadn't been very long since she had come into the care of the Akatsuki, having been stolen away from her escorts a little over 3 weeks ago. She had business within Konoha that wound up falling through but since she had gone out of her way to stop by the village, the Hokage insisted that she took escorts free of charge back to the port town of Kurinai. The last thing she had recalled was that it had started to snow then everything went black. When she had woken up, she had found her wrists bound together while laying in a rather comfortable bed in a black room.

Everything was rather much a blur from that and she had no real idea why it was that she had been taken in the first place. The appointed leader of the Akatsuki refused to say exactly why he had ordered for her capture though he off-handedly commented that she was what he needed, whoever he was. Only days later had she discovered just what he was talking about when the members of the Akatsuki returned due to the weather and was quite literally thrown at the feet of one particular member with hair blacker than hers and eyes as red as a demon's. Though her "owner" ignored her, the Leader refused to allow her to leave much to her frustration which led to her sneaking out through her window that night in hopes of escape.

Kagome huffed, blowing a strand of her long raven black hair out of her face. Her cheeks were pinkened from the cold and she hugged the thick cotton cloak closer to her in hopes of keeping out the cold, something she was use to from back home way up north in the land of winter. It was always cold and snowy there, tempting others to spread rumors that her clan was born of the ice due to their unique shade of eyes, a clear and sharp hue of icy blue.

It was frustrating for Kagome to even consider the possiblity of staying within a cavern lair that was more cold and uninviting than warm and welcoming. Her owner had kept her locked inside her given room as he wanted absolutely nothing to do ith her or any other forms of the female species and that had only strengthened her resolve to leave on this night. It was pure luck that she discovered that her window hadn't been locked and, without much thought, Kagome had fled out into the much colder night air.

'What am I thinking,' Kagome mused to herself silently as she chanced a glance behind her towards the cavern base of her captor. 'This is nothing short of a blizzard. It'll be suicide to even try to get anywhere but what pther choice do I have? Staying here isn't an option either. It's not a very welcoming place and I would much rather be home.' Turning her eyes forward once more, she sighed before flopping down into the snow covered ground.

Collapsing backwards with her icy hues closed, Kagome took deep calming breaths as she refrained from screaming out at her streak of bad luck. She wanted to throw a fit, wanted to have a tantrum above anything and everything else at the moment but did not wish to alert any attention to the fact that she was in the middle of a suicide escape into a blizzard. Sitting up with a sneeze, she lightly rubbed her nose and opened one eye.

Seconds later Kagomes vision was blacked out as something black fell over her frame. A small cry off indignation left her semi-chapped lips as she scrambled to free herself from the fabric over her when it was suddenly nearly pulled off of her frame, left to rest on her shoulders. Her eyes locked with bleeding red eyes that she could only describe as being demonic in nature, the eyes of her owner, Itachi Uchiha.

Seconds seemed to last hours as the two stared at each other, one impassive and one shocked. As Kagome sat in the snow in shock, Itachi smirked before he leaned in and stole a kiss from the stunned woman no older than himself. It lasted no more than a moment before ending, the feeling lasting for much longer before vanishing from her sights, leaving one befuddled female in his wake.

By morning, Kagome had already returned to her prison room, cuddling under the covers for more warmth as her thoughts ran rampant. This night was different than the rest had been. Barely awake, Kagome almost didn't register when she was joined or the arms wrapping around her wawist, pulling her closer to a firm and warm body. She cuddled up to him, her conscious mind already knowing who it was. A soft smile graced her lips as both she and her owner drifted off to sleep.

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Authoress' Note: Okay, this didn't turn out how I wanted it to but that's partly my fault. Please see the last two status updates in my bio profile. Anyway, I hope you all at least enjoyed this. I've been wanting to write out an Itachi and Kagome pairing for a while now and just dished this out in 2 hours despite being half asleep. Until next time.


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